Little Bat
by Reese M
Summary: Repost from old account: 10 yrs after the Clocktower battle Harleen Quinzel has escaped Arkham, and a pint sized Batgirl is causing trouble all over New Gotham with the help of a pint sized Harley Quinn. Is there a link? What surprises will Barbara Gordon and her Birds of Prey discover while working this odd new case? The answers are life changing for Barbara and the little bat.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I was cleaning up my files when I came across this story from years ago. I think I'd posted it under the pen name Delphi Gordon way back in the day. Started rereading it, did a little editing, and thought I'd post it here with the rest of my stories. Hope you enjoy this little blast from the past.

~Reese

* * *

A warm breeze blew across Gotham's rooftops as the black leather and Kevlar clad, dark haired, smoky eyed Huntress sailed from rooftop to rooftop with a natural, almost cat like grace. As she patrolled through their city she kept an eye out for trouble and an ear open for Oracle. Since he left that is just what Gotham had become, their city. It was up to them, Oracle and herself and their young charge Dinah to protect Gotham from the danger that lingered in the shadows. It was their responsible to clean up the mess he'd made and left behind. A part of her loved it. She'd been born for this especially given who her parents were, but there were times when she would growl deep in the back of her throat and curse them both for leaving them with such a heavy burden to bare. Well, maybe more him than her mother.

The night had been slow. Slow nights had become an increasingly rare thing in Gotham these days, which is why Oracle's voice breaking through the quiet night wasn't surprising.

"Huntress." Barbara Gordon's voice called out over the comm. "We got an alarm at the New Gotham Children's Museum."

Helena Kyle sighed, but managed to hold back a moan as she landed with a soft thud on the rooftop she was aiming for. "Another one?"

"Looks that way." Barbara replied. "I've already sent Canary. She'll meet you there."

Helena changed directions so she could head over to the museum. Over the last couple of months there had been a string of break-ins all over the city. Normally this wouldn't be something unusual, it was Gotham after all, but all of the places being hit in this case had one thing in common. They all had something to do with children.

Normally they would have left these cases to the police, what did they care if a bunch of punks were getting their kicks with a load of smash and grabs, but Reese had given her something found at the first scene that had drawn them in. A harlequin doll with a gift tag with Barbara's name on it had been left at the bat exhibit at the New Gotham Zoo. At every scene since then something was left behind that had either a jester on it or a bat. As Helena landed beside Dinah on the roof of the museum she wondered what they'd find this time.

"We're in." Helena reported over the comm. link built into her necklace as she and Dinah dropped into the museum.

"Be careful." Came their leader's concerned voice. They both new Barbara trusted them, believed in them, but she was to much of a mother hen not to remind them almost all the time to be cautious.

"Aren't we always?" Helena asked as she and Dinah walked through the darkened building. They wandered around carefully taking everything in. Nothing looked trashed, just played with. "I really don't get this." She said as they entered the part of the museum that had small models of famous places around the world. "What's the missing link here? Every place that's been broken into has something to do with kids and every item left behind has something to do with the old bats."

"Did you just call me an old bat?" Barbara asked, cutting Helena off, but before either could say anything else Dinah pointed to a replica of the temple at Delphi. "Look." She and Helena walked over and she picked up what they were obviously meant to find. "Oracle, they're gone."

"What did you find?" Barbara asked.

Helena took the object from Dinah and sighed, Barbara wasn't going to like this. "It's a beanie baby."

"A what?" The redhead's voice replied with the soft clack of computer keys as background noise.

The Huntress turn the toy over in her hands giving it a good once over as she said, "A beanie baby, you know the toys…"

"I know what they are, Huntress." The pair in the museum could almost hear Barbara rolling her eyes through their earpieces. "What kind of beanie baby?"

Dinah gave Helena the 'Barbara's grumpy' look before replying. "It's a bat and it's really kind of ugly. It's this really weird green with black diamonds."

"Bring it back with you." Barbara ordered. "Scan the area, but do it fast, the police are about three minutes out. Come straight back here when you're finished."

"Yes Mom." The two women replied together with matching smirks. Over the comm. they could hear Barbara groan and that made them laugh. After scanning the area with one of Barbara's gadgets the two of them headed back to the Clocktower as ordered. When they got there Barbara was sitting in front of Delphi, her super powerful and super expensive computer rig, looking intently at something on one of her many screens.

"Find something?" Helena asked as she walked over and dropped the beanie baby down on the desk.

Barbara didn't say anything for a moment and then sat back and sighed. "Nothing. The security system was shut down so there's no camera footage inside, and nothing outside either because the CCTV cameras were disable, just like all the other break-ins." Taking her glasses off, Barbara pinched the bridge of her nose. This case was really starting to get to her, and not just because she couldn't seem to find a solid lead. This seemed to be personal but she had no idea why.

"Ok now this is really getting weird." Dinah said as she looked over the growing collection of found items. "Someone's breaking into kid places and leaving behind markers that are clearly meant to get our attention. Why?"

"It's a message." Barbara replied.

"It's clearly a message, Barbara." Dinah replied with a slight roll of her eyes. "But what does it mean?"

"A bat left on a model of the temple of Delphi, a marionette dressed in a bat suit, the doll left at the zoo, the message is for me, that's clear enough." Barbara replied. "The doll was a harlequin doll and the pattern on this beanie is a harlequin pattern. I know who's sending the message, I just don't know what the message is yet."

With that the redhead backed away from her desk and maneuvered her wheelchair down the ramp and away from Delphi's dais. Helena and Dinah just stood there and watched as their friend, sister, mentor, mother figure, moved across the room and out onto the terrace to be alone again.

"She's been doing that a lot lately." Dinah said softly, her voice laced with the concern she felt for Barbara.

The older of the two nodded. "You know how anniversaries are around here."

"Depressing." Dinah sighed. "Should we go out there with her?"

Helena watched Barbara though the window for a few seconds and then shook her head. "Not yet." She watched a moment longer then nudged the younger woman. "Come on, kid. Lets see what Alfred left us to eat."

"Do you think Barbara's right?" Dinah asked as they made their way to the upper level landing. "Do you think it could be her?"

"I don't know." Helena admitted. "But when is Babs ever wrong about these things?"

The early morning sun was coming through the clock face window but Barbara didn't notice. She was once again at her computers, lost in thought and a world of binary codes and data streams. She'd been able to tap into several security cameras in the area around the museum that had actually been working but there was nothing, not a single thing that would give her a place to start. Pulling off her glasses she rubbed her tired eyes and sighed.

"You need to sleep." Alfred said as he set a cup of tea next to his young charge.

Barbara smiled tiredly. "I know, but I can't. Not yet."

"He's right ya know." Dinah said from the upper level kitchenette. "You're not gonna be much help if you fall asleep on your keyboards."

"Yeah," Helena added as her head appeared over the railing too. "Don't make me put you to bed myself, Barbara, because you know damn well I'll do it."

"Do you two ever go home anymore?" Barbara asked as she looked up at the pair.

Both women smiled. "We are home." Helena replied. "This is where the food is. Now go to bed."

"Alright fine." Barbara held up her hands as she backed away from the computers. "I'll get a few hours sleep." She looked up at two women. "If anything happens…"

"We'll wake you and not touch anything." The youngest of them replied. "You'd think after ten years you'd at least let me check my email from there."

Barbara smiled a little. "That's what your laptop is for."

Dinah leaned against the railing and sighed as she watched Barbara roll into the elevator that would take her down to the penthouse. The closer they got to the anniversary of Wade's death and Quinn's attack, the more obsessed Barbara got. It had only gotten worse after Quinn's escape, and now with this new case and all the clues pointing to her. "I wish there was more we could do."

Alfred looked up at the young women. "You are all doing what you can, Miss Dinah. None of you can ask more of yourselves then that."

That night every monitor hooked up to Delphi was showing some kind of data or video feed. Barbara hadn't slept much, only three hours or so, but at least she no longer felt as if she were going to drop. Every time she closed her eyes she could see that night, the way Quinn bragged about killing Wade, about nearly crossing a line she'd never have forgiven herself for crossing. If Helena hadn't stopped her, she would have killed Harley Quinn.

A beeping sound coming from one of her surveillance scans brought Barbara out of her memories. Looking over at one of the overhead screens she narrowed her eyes. It looked like a security feed from the New Gotham Mall. She watched for a few moments and then switched the feed to the screen right in front of her. Hacking into the camera's systems she zoomed in on the figures. "What the…"

"Huntress, Canary, get to the New Gotham Mall." Barbara ordered after a moment of staring while she processed what she was seeing. "Now."

"Kind of late for a shopping spree isn't it?" Helena asked as she and Dinah finished off the would-be muggers they'd been taking care of.

"Not the time Huntress." Barbara replied. "Just get over there as quickly as you can."

"Ok, ok." Helena replied as she knocked out her mugger, than watched as her young partner did the same to hers. They zip tied the muggers to lamp posts and then Helena took to the rooftops while Dinah zipped through the streets on the bike Barbara and Helena had given her when she'd become a full fledged member of the team and not just the kid sidekick. When she got there she found the front doors smashed in. "Ok, so they weren't trying to be careful about breaking in this time."

"I think they wanted to be seen this time." Barbara responded. "Be careful. They've changed their tactics for a reason."

"Well that's never a good thing." Dinah said as she headed inside. When Helena landed next to her she didn't even blink. She'd gotten use to her friend's way of coming and going years ago.

Helena sensed something almost immediately. Her eyes shifted to a more feline appearance, her senses becoming super heightened, a genetic gift given to her by her late mother. She could hear someone close by. Every muscle in her body tensed as she prepared for an attack. She gave Dinah a silent single and they moved further inside.

"Oooo!" Came a voice that made both women stop. "Someone to play with!"

"Whoa!" Dinah replied as the owner of the voice appeared. It was just a little girl.

"Be carefully there's two of them." Barbara warned.

"Careful?" Helena asked as she kept her eyes on the child. The girl was dressed up like some kind of jester in black and red, with white make up on her face, and a mask covering her eyes. Her hair was in pigtails and colored to match her outfit. What was this some kind of joke? "She's just a kid."

The girl smiled and titled her head to the side. "What game should we play?"

"Look kid, I don't know what you're up to but breaking into the mall wasn't a good idea." Helena replied. "What are you doing here?"

"We're playing." Came a second voice. "Mother said we could."

Helena and Dinah looked up and blinked. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Helena asked the blonde in black leather beside her.

"I think so." Dinah replied.

Standing on the ledge of the level above them was another girl who looked to be around the same age as the jester kid. Normally both Helena and Dinah would be more concerned with the kid falling, but they were both to busy staring because the girl was dressed just like Batgirl.

The first girl looked at the other and giggled. "Lets play tag." She then rushed towards Dinah. "We're it!"

"I like tag." The girl dressed as the mini Batgirl replied as she jumped off the ledge.

Helena watched in disbelief as the girl landed a few feet away from her. The girl had landed in what looked like a battle crouch after using a store sign and kiosk to break up her fall. Then the girl charged towards her, and Helena had to snap out of it in order to quickly get out of the girl's way. At some point during her little parkour stunt the kid had pulled batons from somewhere and was all set to slam once into Helena's gut. Helena sid stepped the kid, and then watched as the bat kid wannabe jumped into a flip that nailed Dinah in the back before landing once again on her feet.

"Hey!" The jester kid huffed. "She's mine! Play with your own!"

The Batgirl kid giggled. "Sorry."

The girl turned towards Helena again. She had long red hair flowing from under her cowl, she held two batons in each hand, and she stood in a way that really reminded Helena of the old days. The kid reminded her of Barbara. This was just getting to damn freaky. "I'm not fighting a kid."

The Batgirl kid frowned. "You don't wanna play with me?"

Dinah found herself avoiding punches and kicks that no kid this age should know. For a moment her mind flashed back to Guy and she wondered if they were dealing with the same kind of kids. "Back off little girl. I don't want to hurt you."

"Aww," The jester kid whined. "She won't play either."

"We'll just have to make them play." The Batgirl kid said in a low voice. She smirked and then charged at Helena, weapons raised.

"This is nuts." Helena said as she tried to side step the kid again, but the kid was clearly trained to fight and actually nailed her with the baton, slamming it hard into her hip. "Little brat!"

"Subdue them but don't hurt them." Barbara ordered. She was watching on the computer monitors and was just as stunned and disbelieving as her operatives. It was surreal to say the least. Especially watching the tiny version of who she use to be.

"We're not the ones throwing the punches!" Dinah replied as she blocked another flurry of attacks from the little jester.

"Oracle, these kids are trained." Helena added as she ducked down then swept out her leg to knock the kid off her feet. The girl jumped over the kick and then slammed the baton down on her shoulder, then started laughing. "Ok this one needs a spanking or something."

The Batgirl kid pouted. "Oh now that's mean. I'm telling Mother you're being mean to me."

"Who's your mother?" Helena asked as she circled the girl. "I'll tell her myself."

"Wouldn't you like to know?" The Batgirl kid replied as she moved closer to the jester kid. "These old people are so boring."

The jester girl nodded. "Lets make it more fun."

"Ok!" The Batgirl kid replied, but before either could do anything several small silver balls fell from the upper levels and once they hit the ground they began to release clouds of colored smoke. "Aww, Mother's calling us." The Batgirl pouted. "We have to go now."

"Maybe we'll get to play some more later." The jester girl replied.

Helena and Dinah couldn't see a thing as the cloudy smoke rolled around them. They coughed and waved at the smoke until it began to clear. When it did they were alone, the girls were gone.

"What the hell was that?" Helena demanded as she looked around.

"The start of something bad." Barbara told them as she leaned back in her chair. "Something very bad."


	2. Chapter 2

The room looked like a set from Babes in Toyland. It was full of oversized blocks and dolls, a large ride-on train, and huge toy soldiers. The walls were painted in colorful patterns with big plush letters and numbers, flowers and ladybugs hung along side posters from children's movies and Haly's Circus. One poster, which hung near one of the two beds in the room, was so old it promoted The Flying Graysons and the very special act they would be doing at a Martha Wayne Foundation benefit performance.

It was a child's dream of a room with every toy and game one could ask for. A small ten-year-old girl with blonde curls and green eyes bounced excitedly on her bed while across the room another girl of the same age but with red hair and softer green eyes sat on her bed smirking.

"We're supposed to be getting ready for bed." The redhead said.

The blonde giggled wildly. "How can you think of sleeping? Aren't you still feeling all bouncy inside? Mommy was so happy when we got home."

The redhead smirked a bit more. It had felt really good to see their mother so pleased with them. "Yes, but she won't be happy if we're not asleep soon."

"Oh it's alright, my darling." Harleen Quinzel, aka, Harley Quinn, said as she entered the room. "I know it's hard to sleep after such excitement."

The blonde girl jumped off her bed with a flip landing close to her mother. "Mommy can we do it again soon? I liked that game."

Harley grinned brightly as she nodded. "Oh don't worry precious, you and your sister will get to play with your new friends again soon. I promise." The blonde girl wrapped her arms around her mother and giggled. She'd been very pleased with the girls' first real meeting with Gordon's little birds. She had to admit; she got a rush from watching her little bat take on Kyle. Looking up at the red haired girl she beamed brightly. "Aren't you going to come give mommy a hug goodnight?"

The girl jumped off her bed and ran over to her mother hugging her as well. "That was so much fun."

"I'm glad you think so." Harley replied as she looked down into soft green eyes. "Because it's only the start of our little game."

Helena paced the Clocktower as Barbara reviewed the tape from the mall for the millionth time. It was clear that Quinn was behind this now more than ever. There hadn't been a doubt in Barbara's mind since day one, but seeing the girl in Harley's old costume and the one in her own, it was just the final piece of evidence. Harley Quinn was back. The question now was what was her plan and how did these girls fit into it? They couldn't be more than eight or nine years old, but they fought as if they'd had years of training. Who were they? Where did they come from? And most importantly, what had Harley done to them?

"I just don't get it." Helena said as she came over to where Barbara was sitting. "It doesn't make any sense. If she were going to come after us then why not just do it? Why use the kids?"

"Because this isn't about just coming after us." Barbara replied after a moment. She had been deep in her own thoughts and needed to get them a bit more organized before she could answer Helena's question. "She's never been the type to just be straight forward. It's always a mind game with her."

Helena crossed her arms as she leaned against Barbara's desk. "What kind of mind game?"

"She's taunting us." The redhead replied. "Taunting me."

"By using kids?" Helena asked.

"Wouldn't be the first time." Dinah said as she came out of the practice room. "I couldn't keep from thinking about Guy the whole time those girls were trying to fight us."

There was a pained look in Helena's eyes as she remembered the boy she'd grown so close too, a child whose whole life was a manipulation that Quinn controlled. "I'm going to break every bone in her body."

"We have to find her first." Dinah sighed. "And we've been trying to do that ever since she escaped."

"Yes, but now she's made herself known." Barbara said as she backed up a little and took her glasses off. She was getting a massive headache from looking at her monitors so much, not to mention the stress. "Which means she's setting us up for something."

"A rematch?" Helena asked. "We'll kick her ass again and send her back to prison where she belongs."

If only Barbara thought it was going to be that easy. Sighing she rubbed her eyes and headed down the ramp away from her computers. She headed off towards the hall Dinah had just come down.

"Where are you going?" Helena asked.

"I need to think." Barbara replied before disappearing into the training room.

Again the two other women were left standing there watching her wheel away. "She's training more then normal."

Helena nodded. "This is personal for her Dinah."

"Are we going to let her do this?" The younger girl asked as she looked over at Helena. Her concern was bright in her eyes and with good reason.

Over the years Barbara had made major improvements on her neuro-responder but it still caused her pain to use it, and Helena still didn't trust the damn thing not to do more harm then good. "I don't think we have a choice."

"We could hide it." Dinah offered.

"And she could kick our asses." Helena retorted.

The younger woman was getting frustrated. "So what do we do just sit around waiting for this psycho bitch to come after us? Or for Barbara to push herself to far this time?"

"No." Helena replied as she watched the spot where Barbara had disappeared. "We find her first and we stop her before it gets to the point where Babs thinks she has to use that goddamn thing."

Dinah smiled and crossed her arms. "You have a plan?"

"What? You think Barbara's the only one who can come up with plans?" The older woman asked, looking mildly offended.

"Yes." Dinah replied with a smirk.

Helena narrowed her eyes and stared at the young blonde before finally replying, "Get dressed we've got work to do."

Dinah didn't argue she simply went up stairs and changed into her Black Carney outfit. Without a word the two women left the Clocktower. They knew that as soon as she got back to Delphi, Barbara would know where they were, but neither of them could stand just standing there waiting. "So," Dinah asked as she and Helena made their way through the night. "Where are we going?"

"Ever wonder where all the kid friendly places in the city were?" Helena asked as they moved together through the shadows.

"Not really." Dinah replied. "I was sixteen when I got here remember? I was past little kid stuff."

"You were still a kid." Helena replied as they headed for the first place on her list. She'd grown up in Gotham and had a couple of places in mind. She wanted to try and head these kids off somehow. Maybe they would get lucky and get to the next target before the girls did and they could capture them or something. "If you could go anywhere you wanted and do anything you wanted where would you go?"

"I went to No Man's Land," Dinah replied. "But I don't think that counts."

Helena thought about it and then shrugged. "No Man's Land isn't meant to be a place for little kids."

"The Game Room." Barbara's voice cut in.

"We getting one?" Helena asked with a smirk. She felt relieved at the sudden sound of her friend's voice in her ear. Barbara had always had a calming effect on her, an anchor, but right now she was just glad to know that her friend was ok. Her voice was stressed, but it wasn't setting off any warning bells. "I always wanted my own pool table."

"No." Barbara replied as she watched her monitors. "That's where they are."

"That would have been my next guess." Dinah said as she and Helena made their way towards the huge warehouse that had been turned into a kid's play time nirvana.

"I thought you didn't know about kid stuff?" Helena teased. The Game Room was a huge place; this could turn out two ways in her mind, bad, and really bad.

Dinah smirked. "It's not just for little kids." Then she frowned. "Aren't there people in there this time of night?"

"Closed for remodeling." Barbara informed them. "Someone tripped a silent alarm about five minutes ago."

"Convenient." Helena replied. When they arrived they found the front doors unlocked and ajar. Something in the pit of Helena's stomach told her that this felt different. This wasn't just the girls playing at whatever game they'd been told this was. Going inside the two women moved quietly, slowly, as they listened for the sound of kids playing. The lights were off so Helena's eyes turned feline to help her see.

A sound made Dinah turn to her left, just in time to get hit in the face with a plastic ball. "Hey!"

The lights came up with the sound of little girl giggling. "They came back to play with us!"

"Will you play with us this time?" The second girl asked from somewhere to their right.

Helena looked around, peering into the shadows, until she caught sight of one standing on the candy counter. It was the girl dressed in the harlequin jester get-up. Remembering their last encounter her gaze went upwards as she looked for the little Batgirl. She found her perched on one of the larger games eyeing her in a way that made Helena feel a little uneasy, that and the fact that the kid was mocking Barbara by wearing her uniform was really starting to piss Helena off. "We won't fight you." Helena finally replied. "You're just a couple of kids. I've got clothes older than you two."

The little harlequin titled her head in a way that made chills run down their spines.

"Why are you doing this?" Dinah asked.

"Eww." The little Batgirl scrunched her face. "They're the talky kind of grown ups."

"So lets make them be quiet." The other girl replied.

It hadn't dawned on Helena until she saw the Batgirl clad kid whip out a baton and flip off the counter that this was a planned gathering. Jumping back into a defensive stance she watched the girl come at her.

"Wait!" The jester kid shouted just short of attacking Dinah, who was also ready for the girl's first move. "Last time you wouldn't play with us."

"We won't fight you." Dinah told the girl.

The girl smirked. "Well, you can play with us or you can play with them."

Dinah and Helena watched as a bunch of goons dressed as toy soldiers came out of the shadows. Helena sighed then growled when she felt the baton crack into her ribs. "Damnit kid!"

The little Batgirl laughed as she continued to throw punches and swing the baton. Before either one knew it they were defending themselves against the onslaught of the insane trick-or-treaters. When they tried to back away from the fight they found themselves fighting a goon. This was crazy, but then again, Helena thought as she took out a goon, Quinn's crazy as hell and this had her stink all over it.

Barbara walked in and as soon as she saw what was going on pulled out both of her batons. She wasted no time getting into the fray. She'd been afraid this was a set up, and if there was a chance Quinn was going to be around then she felt she needed to be there as well.

The presence of someone new drew both girls' attention. When the little harlequin saw that all the men her mommy had sent were down she knew it was time to go. They weren't supposed to stay once the men were taken out. "Uh-oh, I think I hear my Mommy calling." She said with a giggle as she backed away from the blonde. "Come on sissy we have to go!"

Little Batgirl withdrew from her attack on Huntress but as she turned to join her sister she caught sight of who'd come in. She froze as she looked at the red haired woman. Her head titled a little as her soft green eyes locked onto the woman's soft green eyes. She stood there holding batons just like hers, she was dressed in a costume just like hers, she had long red hair and soft green eyes just like hers.

"Sis!" The little harlequin yelled and then sighed as she ran to her sister and grabbed her by the arm when the other girl didn't respond. "We have to go now!"

Taking the little silver balls her mother had given her the little Batgirl threw them down hard so the colored smoke would come out, then ran along with her sister, towards the exit where the van was waiting to whisk them away.

When the smoke cleared Helena looked around and again found the kids gone. Hissing she stormed over to Barbara. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Barbara was still staring at the spot where the girl dressed like her had been standing. The way the girl had looked at her, the way their eyes met, what the hell had that been that passed between them?

"Batgirl!" Helena yelled, using Barbara's codename since they were in the field.

Snapping out of it Barbara looked at the other woman. "What?"

"What are you doing here?" She repeated and then answered the question for herself with a sigh. "You came looking for Quinn."

Barbara didn't answer she just turned around and headed back out to the hummer. She used her cell, which was routed through Delphi, to contact the police about the goons as she went. She didn't feel like having this conversation again.

"I thought we agreed you'd only use that damn thing in extreme cases." Helena said as she followed the redhead out.

"Harley Quinn is an extreme case." Barbara replied as she opened the hummer door.

Helena put her hand on the door before Barbara could close it once she'd climbed in. "Barbara." She hissed in a low voice that to often reminded Barbara of Selina, not that she'd even told Helena that.

"Helena, don't." Barbara warned. "Not now."

Smoky blue eyes locked with green for several seconds before Helena just shook her head and backed away from the Hummer door. "She's becoming your Joker, Barbara."

That made the older woman blink. "What?"

"My father was so obsessed with catching the Joker that his obsession ended up hurting the people he loved most." Helena said carefully. "You've tried so hard not to follow in all his footsteps, follow in these, not now."

Barbara opened her mouth to argue but found she couldn't. She had been obsessing over Quinn. It was hard not to when she thought about it all. Sighing she simply nodded at Helena, who nodded in return. They'd been together for so long they really didn't need words to understand each other.

"Make sure she takes that damn thing off as soon as you're back." Helena told Dinah who was now sitting in the passenger seat of the hummer. "I'm going to see if I can't find something we can use."

"Bring back a couple of those smoke balls." Barbara told the other woman as she turned to glare at Dinah who just smiled at her sweetly. Sighing she slammed the hummer door closed then headed back towards the Clocktower.


	3. Chapter 3

Staring at herself in the mirror the red-haired girl titled her head to the side again. She was ignoring her sister's rant but found it hard when she was beaned in the head with a stuffed toy. Turning she glared at her sister who was huffing near their giant teddy bear. "What?"

"What?" The blonde girl huffed. "You froze!"

"I did not freeze!" The redhead yelled back as she took several steps towards her sister, her eyes changing as she got closer. "Why were you so ready to run? We could have taken them! They won't fight us because we're kids! That gives us an advantage!"

The blonde girl hated it when her sister's eyes changed like that. They became cat like and it creped her out. It also made her jealous because she couldn't do the cool things her sister could do. "Mommy said…."

Quinn smirked as she came into the room. The two girls looked as if they were about ready to fight. She loved that look in their eyes. "Now girls, there's no need to argue." She said sweetly as she came over to them.

"She froze, Mommy!" The blonde tattled while pointing at the redhead.

Green cat like eyes blazed as they stared into darker green eyes. "I didn't freeze!" She hissed, tiny fists clinching at her sides.

"You saw her didn't you, my darling?" Quinn said sweetly as she crouched to the girls' level. "You saw the woman who kept me away from you and your sister for so very long? The woman who helped the bad old Batman take your Daddy J away from us?" She reached out and caressed the girl's cheek, a smirk curling at her lips as her fingers curled around the back of the little redhead's neck. "You saw the old Batgirl, didn't you? You saw Oracle?"

The girl nodded. "She came in looking for someone."

"She came in looking for me, darling." Quinn told the girl with a sad, hurt look in her eyes. "She wants to take me away again."

Tiny fists were clenched so hard the little girl's knuckles were white. "Don't worry, Mother. I won't let them take you away. I won't let them hurt you. I promise."

Quinn beamed as she kissed each girl's cheek. "Mommy's precious angels."

Standing outside the girls' room Tony waited for his boss to come back out. He'd known the girls, Harley the little redhead and Duela the little blonde, all their lives. Seeing the look in little Harley's eyes when she'd seen Batgirl had been unsettling to him, but his boss seemed to get a big thrill out of it. The same twisted thrill she'd gotten when she'd named the girl after herself.

"Isn't it wonderful, Tony?" Quinn purred after she'd come out of the girls' room. "They've come so far, and little Harley is developing quite nicely. A mother couldn't be prouder."

He knew he was taking his life into his own hands but he felt he needed to say something. He'd been the one who raised the girls until Harley had been able to escape; he'd been there throughout their training, overseeing it all so his boss's plan would work perfectly. He didn't want to see that plan fail now. "I thought you were going to wait until they were older."

"I was." Quinn shrugged as she walked down the hall of the old Victorian house they'd been hiding in. "But I changed my mind. I'm tired of waiting."

"But she's only ten." Tony reminded her. "Her abilities have just started to manifest themselves…"

Quinn stopped and turned to look at him. "And?" She asked as if she truly didn't see the problem, and honestly she didn't. "You've seen them, they've been able to hold their own."

"The birds won't fight them." Tony replied as he felt his blood go cold.

That made Quinn smile as she titled her head to the side. "I know, isn't it perfect?"

"But…"

The blonde psychopath pushed the taller man up against the wall, her hand reaching out and curling around his throat tightly. "Are you questioning the way I raise my children?"

Tony tried to shake his head. "No, of course not."

Quinn let him go and scrunched her nose as she smiled. "I didn't think so." She turned and headed down the hall again. "Now, I think we should move ahead while tempers are hot. Be a good boy, Tony, and set up the children's next play date."

Helena walked along side Barbara's chair as they made their way down the busy street. They'd been so busy over the last couple of weeks with the brat kids from hell that she was starting to forget what sunlight felt like on her skin. If Alfred hadn't have shooed them away from the Clocktower so he could clean, they'd properly still be there banging their heads against the wall. "Mind control?"

Barbara shook her head. "I don't think so. No, I think these girls were raised and trained to be this way."

"Where did she get them?" Helena asked as they headed towards No Man's Land to meet up with Dinah. "They're what, eight, nine, Quinn would have been in Arkham."

"I don't know." Barbara admitted. "I've combed over missing children's reports, medical data bases to see if anyone was working on another genetic project, newspaper clippings, everything I can think of to dig into, and nothing's popped out at me yet."

Helena sighed. "I really hate it when she uses kids." She hissed slowly. "I'm really, really, going to break every bone in her body."

Catching sight of Barbara and Helena coming down the street Dinah took off at a run to meet up with them. "Guys, I think I know where the wonder twins will be next."

"Where?" Barbara asked, and then understood when Dinah held out a poster for a street carnival.

"Would she really be that obvious?" Helena asked.

Barbara took the poster and looked it over. "Yes, she would." She replied as she showed Helena the bat symbol stamped across the poster.

"Does this mean I get one of those little yellow bracelets so I can ride the rides all night?" Helena teased.

Dinah laughed while Barbara rolled her eyes. She'd never admit it, though she suspected Helena already knew, but her friend's ability to hold onto her humor was as much a comfort to her as it was to Helena.

"I still don't see why I couldn't get cotton candy." Dinah said out loud so her transceiver could pick it up as she combed through the darkened grounds of the New Gotham summer carnival. They'd been watching the fair grounds for the past three nights and nothing.

"Have you ever tried to kick ass with sticky fingers?" Came Helena's reply. "It's a real pain when they get stuck in some punk's hair."

Dinah couldn't help but smirk. "Are you speaking from experience, Huntress?"

"Remind me to tell you about the time she went after a smuggler and ended up taking down an entire big top." Barbara's voice actually had a bit of lightness to it.

"Don't you…" Helena began but then stopped.

"Huntress?" Barbara questioned.

There was a pause before Helena said, "There's movement on the midway."

"Hold back we're on our way." Barbara responded as she headed to Huntress' location. She had to fight with Helena over it, but she was wearing the neuro-responder again. As she walked down the midway she wondered how many more times she'd be able to wear it before the numbness it caused was permanent.

Helena didn't like holding back but with Barbara being stubborn she wasn't going to take any chances. She stood in the shadows and watched the area where she'd seen the flicker of movement, but then suddenly the whole place lit up.

"We know you're out there, Huntress." Duela called out. "Are you waiting for your friends before you come out to play?"

Ok so they knew they were all there, which meant they'd been watched as they were looking around. If this didn't scream set up Helena didn't know what else could define the term.

"Batgirl, Oracle. Batgirl, Oracle." Little Harley called out in a singsong tone of voice. "Come out and play with me" She somersaulted off the platform where she and Duela had been standing, landing easily on her feet. "Come out and play with me, Batgirl, Oracle. Oh and don't worry about you're little birdies, we brought friends."

Barbara watched as several toy solider dressed goons appeared before looking at the girls standing in the middle of the sawdust-covered midway. "We're not here to fight you." She told the girls, hoping to draw their attention, not that that seemed to be a problem. Both girls seemed intent on her. These were not normal kids of that she was sure. "We want to help you."

Little Harley sighed as she spun around to look up at the platform. "Mother! Make them play with us!"

All three women looked up as a light over the platform came on. Three pairs of angry eyes locked onto the blonde standing there. Quinn grinned. "Miss me?"

"Harley Quinn!" Barbara yelled, but before she could move she felt a sharp blow to her stomach.

Little Harley grinned at the woman she'd just hit. "Oh, Mother's not here to play, she's here to watch."

The fight started in a flash. Dinah had three men on her, while two others had tackled Helena. As soon as the men attacked Duela and Harley advanced on Barbara. Harley held her batons tight in her little hands as the older woman pulled hers from where she'd hidden them in her boots. The stance the woman took made her smile. She didn't want to fight them, but that wasn't going to stop them from fighting her.

Barbara used her batons to hold back the girls but they were well trained and obviously had this tag team bit planned. She didn't want to hurt them, but she needed to subdue them. She whacked Duela across the behind with her baton as she blocked a blow coming from her little double. If she could get them separated she'd have an easier go of it, so she very carefully kicked at the on coming harlequin, sending her sprawling backwards.

"What's the matter Quinn?" Helena yelled out as she ducked, punched, and kicked her way through the goons, slowly making her way towards her former therapist. "You can't be bothered to fight your own fight! You have to let kids do it for you!"

"Oh but my girls are so gifted." Quinn replied as she watched her girls take on the famed Batgirl, the protector of Gotham, Batman's little redheaded bitch. "Besides, they wanted to do it. They would do anything to please their mommy dearest. They're such good girls."

Seeing the woman kick her sister really made little Harley mad, and hearing her mother's voice just fueled her. "You shouldn't have done that." She said in a low tone as she swung her baton wildly at the woman's head. "You hurt my sister!" She swung again. "You took Mother away!" She lunged at the woman. "You kept her from us!"

"That's right my darling little Bat!" Quinn called out, laughing with glee. "She hurt me, darling! Make her pay!"

Helena was done playing. She kicked the last two goons unconscious and then leapt up towards the platform where Quinn was. "Miss me?"

"Everyday." Quinn replied before blocking Helena's first punch.

Her mother had told her to hit the little box that would be on the woman's back under her cape, so that's what Harley did. She threw a punch that made the woman duck then came up beside her and hit her with her baton.

"Batgirl!" Helena screamed as she watched the kid hit Barbara in the back. She watched in angry slow motion as Barbara went down with a muffed grunt of pain. Helena saw red, her eyes shifted, and suddenly everything was very primal. Grabbing Quinn by the front of her shirt she threw Huntress threw her off the platform and then followed.

With the woman on the ground Harley jumped on top of her. She pressed her baton against the woman's throat, using her weight to add pressure, and laughed. "Mother!" She called out. "Mother! I got her!"

Quinn laughed as she backed away from Helena. Pulling a small gun she pointed it at the other woman. "I've waited a long time for this."

Barbara struggled with the child but the neuro-responder was shooting pains all through her body and she couldn't breath with the baton across her throat. Images of herself holding Quinn in much the same way flashed through her mind as she stared into soft green cat like eyes that sent just as much of a jolt through her as the neuro-responder did.

"Hold her!" Quinn yelled. "Mother's coming darling!"

There were times when Dinah didn't mind being known as the sidekick. Especially the times where the bad guys forgot she was there. Sneaking up behind Quinn she grabbed the woman, giving Helena the chance to kick the gun out of her hand, but as soon as her hands touched Quinn's skin everything went black and white. When she let go Dinah's eyes were wide with shock and confusion. "Helena! Stop her! She's Barbara's daughter!"

Helena blinked. She couldn't have possibility heard that right. "What?"

Quinn laughed as she rounded on Dinah. "Oh, now you've gone and ruined the surprise!"

Barbara heard what Dinah said and from the look in the girl's eyes, so did she. "Stop." She gasped out. "Don't… Don't do… this." She struggled with the girl but the girl still wouldn't let up.

"Kill her, darling!" Quinn yelled as she backhanded Dinah so hard the blonde staggered. "Make her pay Harley! Kill her!"

Helena rushed over and picking the girl up off Barbara and tossed her like a doll, only to have Duela ram her in the gut headfirst. She fought the kid off, trying to keep her away from Barbara, while watching the spot where the other girl had landed after smacking into stall out of the corner of her eye. She was just lying there and Helena couldn't tell if she was out cold or faking it.

Barbara straggled to her feet, grabbing her batons, then staggered towards Quinn. "What did you do?" She hissed. Her face was flushed and her eyes were cold and hard. If she made it to Quinn this time not even Helena would stop her.

Little Harley's vision was blurry as she pushed herself off the ground but she could see Oracle heading towards her mother. Harley ran towards the woman who wanted to hurt her mother, to take her away again, and when she reached her she punched her as hard as she could in the back.

Barbara fell to her knees, dropping the baton. The pain caused lights to flash in her vision that only got worse when she felt her dropped baton crack into her skull.

"I won't let you hurt Mother!" Harley said as she prepared to hit Barbara again.

"That's right," Quinn taunted with a look of pure bliss on her face. "I'm your mother and you're going to protect me, aren't you my darling little Harley."

"She's lying." Dinah said before blasting Quinn with an energy blast from her hands. "She's not your mother, the woman you're trying to kill is your mother!"

Harley shook her head. "You're lying!"

"I saw it!" Dinah said, blasting Quinn again. "That's my power, kid, I can seen people's thoughts, their memories. I'm telling the truth, I saw it in her mind! She isn't your mother!" She was hoping the girl would forget about Barbara if she seemed to be more of a threat to Quinn.

Harley looked between her mother and the woman in front of her. "No. No!"

Barbara was able to use the moments Dinah was giving her to stagger to her feet. She knocked the baton from the little girl's hand with a well-placed kick, and then pulled a small dart from her belt, which she jabbed the girl with. She helped the now unconscious child to the ground. Then Barbara turned towards Quinn. Something in Barbara's eyes made Quinn decide it was a good time to flee but she ended up backing up into Huntress. When Barbara reached her she grabbed Quinn by the throat. "What did you do!"

"What's the matter Babs?" Quinn struggled to get out of the women's grasp. Huntress had her arms pinned and Barbara had her by the throat, squeezing, slowing her intake of air. "Don't like my little surprise?"

For a moment Barbara thought about killing her again, but only for a moment. With one strike of her baton she knocked Quinn unconscious. Quinn sagged against Helena and then Helena quickly dropped her to the ground. While Huntress secured Quinn with zip ties, Barbara turned and staggered over to the girl who'd been trying to kill her. Confusion, anger, fear, and a mix of other emotions she couldn't even begin to name threatened to overwhelm her as she carefully pulled the cowl off the girl's face. Tears filled Barbara's eyes at the sight of the unconscious red haired child who looked a lot like her mother.


	4. Chapter 4

Standing in the doorway of the lab Helena watched as Barbara rolled around the room tending to the girl she insisted they bring back with them. She had to admit, the kid looked a hell of a lot like Barbara, but that didn't help her believe Dinah's revelation, that this kid was some how Barbara's daughter. Helena had lived with Barbara since her mother's murder. She was fairly certain she'd remember Barbara having a kid. In fact she was fairly sure she remembered overhearing a conversation between Barbara and Selina where Barbara had confessed that she couldn't have children of her own. Helena watched silently as Barbara drew a tube of blood from the still unconscious girl. However this played out, it was sick and cruel and Harley Quinn would pay for the pain she was causing Barbara, Helena would see to it.

"Alfred." Barbara called as she carefully labeled the vile she was holding.

"Yes Ms. Barbara?" Alfred replied as he turned to look at her.

Barbara held out a syringe with an empty tube. Helena watched as Alfred nodded, taking the syringe and picking up the rubber tie thing from the metal table beside them. She could fight off the deadliest filth on New Gotham's streets, but the sight of the old butler drawing blood made her queasy.

"All done, Ms. Barbara." Alfred said cheerfully has he handed the vile to Barbara and then set about cleaning up.

"Thank you." Barbara replied. "Would you mind?"

The old man smiled. "Of course not. I'll stay right here and let you know the moment she wakes up."

Barbara smiled at the kind hearted Englishman and then rolled out of the room.

Helena followed. "Ok, how the hell can you be so calm?"

"Practice." Barbara replied as she headed towards her medical equipment.

Helena felt as if her head were bobbing in a tank of cloudy water as she followed Barbara. "How can that kid be yours?" She finally asked. "She's what nine-ish? I've known you all my life and I don't ever remember you being pregnant."

"I can't get pregnant." Barbara said flatly as she prepared the blood samples to run the DNA test on.

So she had remembered that right. "Then how?"

Once she was finished Barbara looked up at Helena. She might have appeared calm but her eyes were a tempest of emotion. "The Joker's bullet did more then sever my spin."

"So if you can't have kids how is that kid yours?" Helena asked carefully. There was a touch of sadness in her voice. Barbara would have made a great mom. She was a great mom, to her and to Dinah. It was totally unfair she couldn't have a kid of her own.

"I didn't say I couldn't have them." Barbara corrected. "I just can't carry a child." Moving her chair back a little she sat back and took her glasses off so she could look up into Helena's eyes. "I lost so much when I was shot. Having children was not going to be another part of my life taken out from under me." Barbara's eyes took on a far away look as she went on. "After the shooting when Dick and I," The look on Helena's face at the mention of Dick's name nearly made Barbara laugh. Helena and her adoptive brother didn't get along so well and mentioning him always made her make that face, like she'd smelled something bad and it left a lingering bad taste in her mouth. "When we were together I did a lot of thinking, and one of the things I was thinking about was the possibility of having a child with him. So I went to New Gotham General and started treatments to have my eggs harvested."

"Freeze dried Gordons?" Helena asked with an amused look on her face.

That did make Barbara laugh. "Well sort of. Embros are easier to store so I guess it would be more like freeze dried Grayson-Gordons. They would be waiting for when we were ready. Then it would just have been a matter of finding a surrogate."

"You never got the change to be ready because Dick," Helena spat out his name like a swear word, "blew off to play hero in Blüdhaven."

Barbara nodded. "When we broke up I didn't really think about having my own child anymore. I had you." She smiled warmly at the other woman before her eyes took on that far away look again. "I didn't think about it again until Wade, then it became a fleeting flicker of a thought. When he died, I finally put the whole idea away. I had you and Dinah, I had my girls, I was happy."

"And the kid?" Helena asked softly.

"I'm guessing Quinn stole an embryo." Barbara replied as she headed for Delphi's main controls. "I'm running a couple of searches to see if I can find something out. For now, we wait for the DNA."

Helena moved to sit on the desk next to her friend. "Then what?"

"Well, either way, I suppose I have a very damaged little girl to take care of." Barbara sighed, putting her head back and closing her eyes.

Helena reached out and put her hand on Barbara's shoulder. "You're pretty good with damaged kids. She's a lucky kid to have you."

Barbara opened her eyes and smiled at her friend, reaching up to put her own hand over Helena's.

The back of her head really hurt and her stomach felt all funky. As Harley slowly started to wake up she moaned. She'd been hurt before but never like this. Her head was throbbing and the light was making it worse. She closed her eyes even more tightly as she tried to shield them with her hand. "Mother?" She moaned. "Tony?" Something didn't feel right, she felt out of place. Slowly opening her eyes against the light she blinked until her vision was clear. She was in some kind of hospital room and she could feel panic slipping in. "Where am I?!"

"Easy miss." Alfred said as he approached the frighten child carefully. "Sitting up to fast isn't going to make you feel any better."

Harley looked at the old man wearing the strange suit and blinked. She was caught between wanting to get away, the urge to fight, and the need to throw up. "Where am I?" She asked again as she leaned away from him. "Where's Mother?" Anger began to mix with fear. "Did they take her away again!? Did they hurt her!?"

Alfred pressing the comm button that would let Ms. Barbara know she was needed then tried his best to calm the child. "You're safe, Miss Harley. No one here is going to hurt you."

The girl began to tremble. "Where?"

"In a medical lab, dear." Alfred replied calmly, his voice soft and careful. "You took an awful hit to the head, and the sedative you were given isn't completely out of your system."

Things in her head began to clear which didn't help to calm her down. She'd fought with Oracle, and then everything went dark. The blonde, the Canary, said Mother wasn't her mother. As flashes of the night cleared a little, Harley's instinct to fight became stronger. She scampered out of the bed and looked wildly for something to use as a weapon.

"Easy now Miss Harley." Alfred said softly as he made sure the girl could see him, and taking care with his movements.

Harley grabbed a lamp off the table she'd backed herself into. "Let me go!" She yelled as she took a swipe at him with the lamp. "Take me back to Mother! Take me back or I'll smash your skull in!"

"Harley." Barbara called out loudly, firmly, as she rolled into the room. As soon as she'd seen the panicked child she new she'd have to talk her down and trying to reach out to her wasn't going to work. "Harley, put the lamp down, now."

The girl turned to see Oracle and Huntress and she really started to tremble. She had to get out of here, she had to get home, she had to find Duela and Mother. "Let me go!"

"We can't do that, Harley." Barbara said sternly. "Now put the lamp down."

Frightened green eyes locked onto firm green eyes and Harley raised the lamp as if she were going to throw it. She watched as Oracle put a hand on Huntress' arm to stop her from moving. The action confused her. Why didn't she just let the woman kill her?

"Harley." Barbara said again as she wheeled a little closer. "Put the lamp down. No one's going to hurt you."

The girl looked at Oracle, then at the old man, then at Huntress, before looking at Oracle again. Her mind flashed to looking at herself in the mirror in her bedroom after seeing her the first time. She'd never seen anyone with hair and eyes the same color as hers. Those same colored eyes connected again and slowly Harley lowered the lamp, but continued to tremble.

"Put the lamp on the table." Barbara commanded gently. There was no missing the shaking of the girl's hand as she did so. "Good, now get back in bed. Your head must be hurting pretty badly and you're probably trying really hard not to vomit."

Angry scared eyes flashed up to look at Huntress as they changed. "Because she hit me." Then those eyes flash towards Barbara. "And you drugged me."

Helena was caught off guard as she watched the girl's eyes change. It was impossible, no two metas had the same power, but the girl had agility like her, she was strong for her age, and she'd just watched the kid's eyes turn feral. Stealing a glace at Barbara she could see that the other woman had noticed it too. "You were trying to kill my best friend." Helena huffed at the girl. "I couldn't let you do that."

Harley glared at Helena and then turned her attention back to Oracle. "Let me go. I want to go home."

Barbara moved just a little closer. "I can't do that, Harley."

She was really trying hard not to cry, but it wasn't easy. "Where's Mother? What have you done with her?"

"Harley," Barbara looked the girl in the eyes as she spoke. The eye contact seemed to keep her focused and she shook a little less. "Get back in bed. I'll explain everything, but part of the reason for your trembling is because you have a concussion." The girl continued to stand there staring. "Get back in bed, Harley. Now.

Harley narrowed her eyes and lunged forward as if to attack, but Oracle didn't even flinch. She saw Huntress move as if to grab her, but Oracle's hand went up and Huntress stopped, all without taking her eyes off Harley. The two just stared into each other's eyes for several moments. Suddenly Harley's eyes turned back to normal and then she finally inched her way back to the bed.

Inwardly Barbara sighed in relief. She waited until the girl was back on the bed before rolling closer to her. "How do you feel?"

It wasn't until she was on the bed watching the woman come closer that Harley noticed she was in a powered chair. "Why aren't you walking?"

"You damaged the device that lets me walk." Barbara answered honestly.

Harley smiled. "Mother said if I hit the little box you'd fall down."

Anger flared inside her every time she heard the girl refer to Quinn as her mother. "How are you feeling?" She repeated her question, choosing to ignore the girl's comment. "How badly does you're head hurt? Does your stomach feel upset?"

"What happened to Mother?" Harley asked. "Where is Duela? Have you hurt them?"

Barbara sighed inwardly again. She couldn't show frustration around the girl. She knew from experience that kids, like dogs, could smell fear. "Quinn's been taken back to prison by the police, and the other little girl, Duela is it? She's with child services, she's safe."

The panic and anger was back. "You took them away! You took her away again!" She went to get out of bed again but Huntress was standing closer and Oracle moved closer as well. "Why?!"

"Harley," Barbara said firmly as she risked reaching out to touch the girl. "There's a lot that we need to tell you, for you to understand, and we'll tell you everything. But right now you're hurt, and we need to make sure you're ok."

"Why do you care?" Harley asked as she watched the woman's hand reaching out. She hesitated a moment and then jerked away from her. "You hate us and all you'll tell me is lies!"

"We aren't the ones who've been lying to you kid." Helena said.

Harley looked at the woman and narrowed her eyes again. "No, you just hit me."

"You started it." Helena replied as she crossed her arms and glared at the girl.

"I had to protect Mother." Harley replied, then the tears she'd been holding back let loose. "I couldn't do it, and now you've taken her and Duela away from me."

Barbara held her breath for a moment to keep her own emotions in check. This really wasn't going to be easy, not that she'd thought for a second it would be, but now they were finally seeing just the tip of what Quinn had done. "Alfred, would you make Harley some tea and dry toast please, and ask Dinah to bring in the clothes I sent her for."

"Of course Ms. Barbara." Alfred replied with a warm smile.

Harley smirked. She noticed the way Barbara eyed her costume. "Mother said this costume would bother you because you wore one like it when you and bad ol' Batman killed Daddy J."

Oh, yeah, Helena thought as she watched Barbara and the kid. This one was really damaged. It was no wonder Barbara was calling in favors to find someone to talk to the girl on a professional level. Not that she'd ever trust a shrink again, but she knew Barbara would be very careful about who she picked.

"That's part of the stuff we'll get to." Barbara told the girl. "Right now I'm going to make sure you're ok, then you're going to change and have the tea the toast Alfred brings you. We'll see about moving you out of the lab later on."

"This is called kidnapping you know." Harley huffed as she let the woman check her over.

Helena smirked. "Not when the police know you're here."

Barbara finished looking the girl over and when Alfred returned left her in his capable hands. She kept quiet until she and Helena were back at Delphi. That's when she looked up at the other woman. "Did you have to do that?"

"Do what?" Helena asked.

"Pick at her like that." Barbara replied.

Helena gave her friend a lopsided grin. "And you wonder why I couldn't keep a babysitting job when I was younger."

"It wasn't helping." Barbara said as she turned around so she could access her keyboards.

Helena just shrugged. "Kid needs normal, that's me being normal."

Barbara smirked as her fingers danced over the keys. "Don't I know it."

"Speaking of my normal, wanna tell me why the kid's eyes changed like that?" Helena asked as she hopped up on the desk.

"Just another thing to add to the "I have no freakin' clue" list." Barbara replied as she began uploading medical scans she'd taken of the girl. "But I'll find out."


	5. Chapter 5

The sunrise filled the sky with amazing oranges and purples. Barbara loved mornings like this. Sitting out on the terrace, holding a cup of coffee Alfred had given her, watching the rising sun gleam off the skyline of the city. It had been a long night and she couldn't remember ever feeling so tired, but quite moments like this helped her recharge a bit. Harley had kept trying to get out of the lab, and then the spare bedroom down in the penthouse she'd given her to sleep in. She finally ended up giving the girl another sedative sometime around two a.m..

"You should get some sleep while the kid's still out." Helena said as she came outside to join her friend.

"I will." Barbara replied as she continued to look out over the city. Helena walked over and sat on the edge of the terrace near Barbara's feet and the two just stayed that way for quite sometime before Barbara finally spoke up again. "Tell me again why I didn't kill her that day."

"Because we don't kill." Helena replied without turning from the view. "And that's what sets us apart from them. You'd have never forgiven yourself, Barbara. It's just not who you are."

The two fell silent again until they heard footsteps approaching. When they turned they saw Dinah standing there. "Delphi's blinking, Barbara. The test results are in."

Barbara swallowed hard as she nodded. Without a word she went back inside. In the next few seconds her life was going to be a hell of a lot different. There was a huge difference in helping a trouble child who's been traumatized and emotionally and psychologically abused, and helping your own child who's been through all of that. Until now, despite knowing what Dinah saw and trusting the young woman's visions, Barbara had been able to put some distance between herself and the girl. That wouldn't be possible once she knew for sure.

Dinah watched Barbara through the window. "Should we go in?"

"In a minute." Helena replied as she pulled the young woman away from the window. "This is kind of personal. We'll give her a moment on her own first." Ten minutes later when they went inside Barbara was sitting in front of her computers with tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Barbara?" Helena asked softly.

"She's my daughter." Barbara replied hoarsely.

Helena went right to Barbara and put her arms around her, Dinah soon followed. Something like this should have been a joyous moment, but Quinn had stolen that as well.

After several long seconds the two younger women moved back when they felt Barbara stiffen a little. Helena hopped up onto the desk next to her, while Dinah stood behind her. Barbara looked over her screens until she was sure she was once again in control of her emotions and thoughts. She then pointed to one of the flat panel LCD screens. "I think I have an answer to your question, Hel."

"Which question?" Helena replied as she looked at the graphics on the screen. They looked like strands of DNA.

"Why Harley's eyes change." Barbara tapped at her keyboard, bringing up a file on Helena. She displayed the genetic coding that marked her as being meta. She then pointed to Harley's screen. "This is my genetic half and this is Harley's father's, but these," She pointed to certain markers that were now lit up in bright orange. "Are imprinted genetic markers that have been genetically engineered into her DNA. Almost perfect copies of your meta markers."

"So she's your daughter and my meta clone?" Helena asked while fighting off the need to shutter and smash something.

Barbara nodded. "Pretty much."

"I'm going to break every bone in her body and then go back and break each broken half again." Helena softly growled.

Harley was still sleeping as Barbara rolled into the room and up to the bed the girl was in. She just sat there watching her sleep for a long time before building up enough courage to reach out and touch her. She gently swept at her hair as she took in every line, every curve of her tiny face, memorizing it, picking out which features she knew came from her, and which were his. One mystery down, the girl was unquestionably her daughter, but a hundred others to answer. A soft knock on the door drew Barbara's attention and she just as quietly slipped out of the room.

As soon as the door clicked closed Harley opened her eyes. She'd nearly bolted when she felt the woman touch her, but then her warm fingers brushing so softly at her hair suddenly felt soothing. Huge hot tears welled in the girl's eyes as she stared at the closed door. She was scared and confused and just really wanted to go home.

"Reese just called." Helena said softly once Barbara was out in the hall and they were heading back up to the Clocktower.

"And?" The redhead asked as the elevator doors closed.

"Quinn's been secured." Helena replied. "They're using the same set up they used for the Joker until they move her to Arkham."

Barbara sighed in relief before asking, "What else?"

"Turns out the other kid really is Quinn's daughter." Helena answered.

Barbara, who'd been heading towards Delphi, stopped and spun around to stare at Helena. "That's impossible. Given the girl's age she would have been in Arkham."

Helena bit her lip as she thought about it for a moment. "How were you planning on having a baby?"

"What?" Barbara asked. "I told you..." She paused for a moment and then said, "A surrogate." Turning again, she wheel up to her computers and quickly typed in a new search perimeter.

"Any idea how you're going to explain all of this to the kid?" Helena asked as she watched Barbara bang away at her keyboard.

It's all she'd been thinking about and she wasn't any closer to an answer then she was when Dinah first yelled it out. "No clue what so ever."

She had an idea, but she knew Barbara wouldn't like it. The kid reminded her of herself in some ways, mostly in being pig headed and stubborn, so sitting there trying to talk to her wasn't going to work while her emotions were all out of whack. She started to tell Barbara what she thought, but then stopped. She'd let Barbara try her ways first. She and the kid needed to connect. "Are we seriously going to keep calling the kid Harley? Is that even her real name?"

"She won't tell me if it is or not, she won't even tell me how old she is." Barbara replied. "I'm basing that on the medical scans."

"I could ask her." Helena smirked.

Barbara shook her head. "No scaring information out of minors, Huntress."

Helena laughed. "You're no fun." She was relived to see Barbara was still able to joke. It would have scared her if she'd responded harshly to her teasing. "What would you have named her?" The continuous clatter of keys stopped and Helena looked worried. She didn't know what made her ask, it just came out. "I'm sorry I didn't mean…"

"Selina." Barbara said softly as she turned to look at Helena. "If it would have been ok with you, that is."

"You'd have named your daughter after my mom?" Helena asked, her voice soft but thick with emotion.

Barbara nodded. "She was one of my closest friends, Helena. She meant a lot to me. Plus, she gave me one of my most precious gifts."

"The diamond and emerald earrings you never let me borrow?" Helena teased to keep her voice from cracking.

"You." Barbara replied easily before turning back to her work.

Dinah smiled at the older women as she watched them from her favorite perch above their heads in the little kitchenette. "And if you'd had a son?"

Barbara looked up and smirked.

"No." Helena shook her head, knowing the answer from the look on Barbara's face. "No. You would not have named my nephew Bruce. No. Absolutely not."

Both Dinah and Barbara laughed. It still amazed Barbara how well the three of them took care of each other. She hoped that in time they'd be able to bring her daughter into it as well. "I would have named a boy James, after my father." Barbara reassured Helena. Then she added. "I'd have used Bruce as a middle name."

"Not much better." Helena teased. "Good thing she's a girl."


	6. Chapter 6

Barbara knocked softly on the bedroom door before opening it. She paused just inside the door as she watched the girl sitting on the bed trying to wipe away tears that she clearly didn't want seen. "It's alright to be scared, Harley."

Harley turned emotional eyes on the woman as she wheeled into the room. "I'm not scared." She replied hatefully.

"It's alright to be angry and confused too." Barbara added as she wheel right up to the bed. She needed to be mindful of the girl's movements, she'd tried several times the night before to fight her way out of the room, and she was afraid that Harley would end up hurting herself.

"Why are you keeping me here?" The girl asked. She'd been thinking about everything that had happened, but the woman was right, all that did was confuse and upset her. She'd been told all her life that these people were evil, that they wanted to hurt her family, and now they were keeping her in this place.

Barbara looked down at the folder in her lap before looking back up at Harley. "Harley, we need to talk about some things, things that you won't really understand but I'll do my best to explain."

"Like what?" Harley asked as she clutched a pillow tightly to keep the trembling away.

She wasn't entirely sure how to say it. How do you explain to a child that their whole life's been a lie? "Do you remember what was said on the midway? What Dinah said?"

Harley nodded. "She was trying to get me to let you go by lying to me. Mother says all of you lie."

"It wasn't a lie, Harley." Barbara said carefully. "Dinah has a gift that lets her see into other people's minds when she touches them. What she said, she saw in Quinn's mind."

Harley began to shake her head. "You're lying."

"When we brought you back here, while you were still unconscious, I took a blood sample from you, and from me." She went on. She was weighing each word carefully, watching each small reaction from Harley. Helena warned her that Harley wouldn't listen, but she had to try. "I ran a test on them."

"What did the test say?" Harley asked with narrowed eyes.

Barbara bit back a sigh. The look on Harley's face already told her that no matter what she said the girl was going to see it as a lie. "Do you know what DNA is?"

"I'm ten not stupid." The girl replied. "It's the bits and piece that make us."

The girl was educated. That had actually worried Barbara since she couldn't find any school records. Which meant their private tutor theory was most likely correct. Barbara hid her smirk at the girl's slip, at least now they had a time frame to work with. "Well, the test that I did said that half of your DNA matches my DNA."

Harley frowned. "That's wrong. I have half of Mother's DNA and half of Daddy J's."

Somehow hearing Harley call the Joker Daddy J was just a little worse then hearing her call Quinn mother. Shaking her head, Barbara reached out to brush at the girl's hair. "No, sweetie. The test proves that I'm your biological mother."

She let the woman brush at her hair for a moment before jerking away and getting off the bed. She went over to the other side of the room to get away from the woman. "You're lying."

"Did your tutor tell you how your DNA helps make you look the way you look?" Barbara asked as she took a picture out of the folder and set it on the bed.

Harley nodded. "Duela looks like Mother, but Mother said I didn't look like her or Daddy J because I'm special "

Barbara watched as Harley came back to the bed like a scare animal coming to check out a bit of food. She watched silently as the girl picked up the picture, and waited, as the girl looked it over. She'd found it earlier that morning in a bunch of stuff she'd never really bothered to unpack after moving to the Clocktower. The only reason the box hadn't been in storage was Dinah's unwavering need to know more about her and Helena, which included wanting to see old photographs. When the girl finally looked up at her Barbara smiled softly. "I was eleven." She told her. "We were spending the day at the park."

The girl in the picture looked a lot like the girl in the mirror. Harley looked at Barbara a moment, their eyes making contact again, then looked away. Picking up the glass of juice the man named Alfred had left for her she threw it across the room. "Get out!"

"Harley." Barbara said gently.

"Get out! Get out!" Harley yelled as she looked for something else to throw.

"Alright," Barbara said softly. "I'm going to send Alfred in to clean up the mess, and I'd like it if you ate something when he brings your lunch ok?" The girl didn't reply, but Barbara couldn't help but notice that she was clutching the picture to her chest. Rolling out into the hallway she wasn't surprised to find Helena standing there. "Doesn't Reese ever ask why you're never home?"

Helena smirked. "He understands, which still really annoys the hell out of me." The younger woman replied as she fell into step along side Barbara. "Well, that went better then I'd expected." Barbara shot her a look that made her laugh. "She could have thrown whatever she threw at your head."

"Have they moved Quinn to Arkham?" Barbara asked as she headed towards the penthouse's kitchen.

"Yeah, she's in that special set up youcame up with and is under more guard then Fort Knox. Why?" Helena replied.

"I need you to call Reese and ask him to set up a visitation." Barbara replied.

Helena stopped dead in her tracks and just stared at her friend. "You're going to see her?"

Barbara nodded. "There are questions only she can answer."

"Alright." Helena replied. "But I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not." Barbara replied with that don't question me tone.

She really didn't like the idea of Barbara going to see Quinn alone, which is why no matter what the older woman said she wouldn't be. She could just chew her out for it later. "I'll see what Reese can do."

Harley sat on the bed staring at the picture of Barbara when she was a kid. She nearly jumped when the door opened. Stuffing the picture under her pillow she watched as the old man carried in a tray. "What's that?"

"This would be your lunch Miss Harley." Alfred replied as he set the tray down on the bed.

"What is it?" Harley asked as she looked over the food.

Alfred smiled. "Peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a glass of milk."

The tiniest curl tugged at Harley's lips. She loved peanut butter and jelly. "What kind of jelly?"

"Well," Alfred said as he picked up the napkin and handed it to the girl. "I was going to use grape, but it's rather dull and you Miss Harley are not a dull child." He held his smile back when the girl grinned. "So I decided to go with a strawberry raspberry mix, since I don't know which you prefer."

"You mixed the jellies?" Harley asked as she looked at the simple sandwich. "You can do that?"

Alfred smiled softly. "Indeed I can." He was very pleased to see the child pick up one of the triangle shaped halves and nibble. "Acceptable, Miss?"

"This is good." Harley replied with a grin.

"I'm glad you approve." Alfred said as he watched the girl eat the sandwich. "Tonight was Miss Dinah's turn to make a request for dinner, but perhaps tomorrow you could tell me what your favorite meal is and I could prepare that. I'm sure Ms Barbara wouldn't mind giving up her turn."

Harley frowned as she put her milk down on the tray and sighed. "She's not going to let me go is she?"

"You are her daughter Miss Harley, and to Ms Barbara family is very important." Alfred replied softly.

"But I have a family, I have Duela and Mother, and Tony." Harley looked up at the man. How could any of this be true? How could her mother not be her mother? How could this woman she'd been told was mean and evil really be her mother? Why did she look so much like this woman? Why did they want her to believe their lies so badly? Where they going to use her to hurt her mother?

Alfred nodded, "Yes, you did have a family with them, but Miss Harley, this is where you belong."

"Just because some strange woman says she's my mother?" Harley asked, nibbling her sandwich again.

"Because that woman is your mother and she just wants you to be safe and happy." Alfred replied.

Harley sighed. "If she wanted me to be happy she wouldn't have taken Mother away. I was happy before she messed it all up."

Alfred collected the now empty tray and prepared to leave, but before turning towards the door he asked, "Where you? Are you quite sure something didn't feel… missing?"

The girl glared at the butler as he turned and headed for the door. She huffed and threw herself back against the pillows. She had to get out of here before these people brainwashed her. Pulling out the picture she'd hidden she looked at the girl standing by the tree again, sighing she looked up. "Alfred."

"Yes Miss Harley?" Alfred answered.

"I like blueberry jelly." She told him and then smiled. "I like blueberry everything."

Alfred gave the girl a warm smile. "Funny, blueberry is Ms Barbara's favorite as well."

"She ate?" Barbara asked as she watched Alfred bring the tray into the kitchen.

The old man nodded. "She did."

Barbara sighed. She'd been afraid the girl would go on a hunger strike or something. "Thank you, Alfred."

"My pleasure, Ms Barbara." Setting the tray down Alfred took his apron off and smiled. "Now if you'll pardon me I have some blueberries to buy."

Barbara watched Alfred leave with a bit of confusion. She could have sworn Helena had asked for brownies, so why would he need blueberries?

"Barbara," Dinah called from Delphi's control center an hour later. "I think you'd better come see what Delphi's found."


	7. Chapter 7

"What is it, Dinah?" Barbara asked as she made her way up to where Dinah was monitoring Delphi, her mega computer. Barbara had been lost in thought, trying to work out the new turn her life had taken, when Dinah called out to get her attention. It was still so surreal. She had a daughter. A ten-year-old little girl with eyes and hair like her own, and meta powers like Helena's. A daughter she hadn't even known excited until just a short time ago thanks to Harley Quinn. Barbara looked at the screen Dinah was pointing at as she approached Delphi's bank of monitors. It was an old police report from Blüdhaven, a ten-year-old cold case. "Jane Doe found shot in the head." She said aloud as she skimmed the report. "Evidence of haven given birth, presumably to twins, given what little evidence was left behind."

"Twins?" Dinah asked. "Sorry, can't be what we're looking for."

"Maybe it is." Barbara replied as she began to tap away at her keyboard. "Harley and Duela appeared to be the same age."

"But Harley's your daughter and the other kid is Quinn's." Dinah was confused.

"Dizygotic twins." Barbara began, "Two eggs form two zygotes, they're also known as biovular twins. When two eggs are independently fertilized by two different sperm cells."

Dinah was starting to get one of her Barbara induced science headaches. "You're doing it again, Barbara."

Barbara looked up at Dinah and blinked. Doing what again? Then it dawned and her and she smiled. "Fraternal twins, Dinah. Two separate babies in their own sacks who just happen to be sharing a womb."

"Ahh, Ok." Dinah replied. As she watched Barbara read through the case, she noticed a change in the older woman's expression. "Barbara?"

"The date." Barbara replied as she opened a separate file.

"What about it?" Dinah asked.

Barbara looked over something then back at the police file.

"Barbara," Dinah said carefully. "You're face is turning the same color as your hair and that's never a good sign." 

"That sick bitch." Barbara shouted, causing Dinah to jump.

Helena stopped cold. It was never a good sign when Barbara swore. "What did I miss?"

"The birthday cards." Barbara was so angry she was nearly shaking. "The anonymous ones that just happen to show up every year on the same date." She looked up at the two younger women. "They've come every year on September twenty-fourth for the past nine years."

"Yeah what about 'em?" Helena asked as she joined the other two.

Dinah looked at the screen. "This woman was found October third, coroner says she'd been dead a week. Shit."

"Quinn's been sending you birthday cards every year on Harley's birthday." Helena was actually wide eyed. Apparently there was no end to Quinn's sickness. Walking closer to her friend, Helena put her hand on Barbara's shoulder and could feel her trembling.

"What did Reese say?" Barbara asked, her voice tight.

"He'll work on it and get you in as soon as he can." Helena replied. "They're not real hot on her having visitors." The dark haired woman paused a moment before adding, "He also said that they're going to try and use your DNA evidence to add a kidnapping charge."

Barbara just nodded and then backed away from the computer. Without a word to the others she headed for the Clocktower's terrace.

"I still think we could be doing more." Dinah sighed as she once again found herself watching Barbara out the clock face window.

"It's only been a couple days, kid." Helena replied as she watched Barbara as well. "This one's gonna take a hell of a long time. If we're lucky the kid'll be somewhat straightened out by her senior prom."

Dinah looked at Helena and blinked. "Well aren't we the pessimist."

Helena just shrugged. "Kid's got a mixed up head and a lot of dark places to sort out. It's gonna take a lot of work and maybe even a hell of a jolt to get anywhere with her."

"What kind of jolt?" Dinah asked.

"Nothing Barbara's going to agree too." Helena replied.

Dinah watched Barbara for a few more seconds before looking back at Helena. "We're a family. The kid's my little sister and your niece, who said Barbara had to do this one alone?"

Helena smiled. "She's gonna chew us out if we do anything she wouldn't approve of."

"So what else is new?" Dinah replied.

"We'll give it a couple more days." Helena said before heading outside to sit with Barbara. "Then we give a little nudge where needed."

"She was in Arkham when the girls were born." Barbara said when she heard Helena behind her. "Which means she had help. I want whoever helped her do this."

Helena walked over and put an arm around Barbara's shoulder. "Then you'll get 'em. I promise. No one messes with this family and gets away with it."

Barbara sat just outside Harley's door for several minutes before finally opening it. She needed to get control again. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so lost, so used; yet there was this underlying sense of awe and even joy. She had a child, a little girl, a daughter. "Harley." She called out as she entered the room. When she noticed the room was empty she started to panic on the inside, but masked it on the outside. "Harley?"

Harley waited until Barbara was well inside the room before slipping out of the closet and running for the open door. She ran down the hall as fast as she could only to find herself being lifted off the floor, but no one was touching her. "What the hell!"

"I'd watch the swearing." Dinah said easily as she held the girl suspended in the air just enough that her feet couldn't touch the ground. "Your mom really doesn't like it, and I'm guessing coming from a ten year old, it's really not going to go over well."

"She's not my mom!" Harley growled as she tried to fight whatever it was that had a hold of her.

Dinah grinned when she saw Barbara coming down the hall as quickly as she could. "Loose something?"

"Harley!" Barbara scolded as she wheeled over to the dangling girl.

Harley looked at Barbara for a moment and froze. What was that in her eyes? She almost looked scared or something under the mad look. Breaking eye contact, she continued to fight the hold that kept her in the air. "Make your pet freak put me down!"

"First of all," Barbara said in the harshest tone she dared to take with the girl. "We do not use that word in this house. We do not call anyone a freak. Am I clear?"

"Fine!" Harley said simply because she knew it's what the woman wanted to hear. "Now make her put me down!" She left out the part about feeling like she was going to hurl.

Barbara nodded slightly and watched as Dinah lowered the girl to the floor. "Take one step and you'll regret it."

"What are you gonna do?" Harley said coldly, yet she didn't move. "Beat me?"

Inwardly Barbara was counting to rather high numbers. It really was like dealing with an angry ten-year-old version of Helena. "No, of course not, never! But if you call Dinah or anyone else a freak again you will get into trouble."

"You're not my mother! You can't tell me what to do!" Harley yelled.

Barbara sighed. "Alright Harley, I was coming to tell you that you could come out of your room, but since you don't seem to be able to behave outside your room you can very well go back until dinner."

There was a smart remark on the tip of her tongue but it died away quickly when she realized what Barbara was saying. "You were coming to let me out?"

"Yes." Barbara replied.

Harley looked suspicious. "Why?"

"Because this is your home not your prison." Barbara told her.

Soft green eyes narrowed as Harley looked at the woman. "So you're just going to keep some kid you don't even know, a kid who tried to kill you," She paused to look at the bruises that still lingered on Barbara's skin from the baton fight. "And you're not going to keep me locked up? Why?"

She was starting to feel like a broken record. "I'm your mother, Harley, and as far as the law is concerned, and more importantly, as far as I'm concerned, this is where you belong."

Harley just stood there, her tiny chest rising and falling deeply as she fought back more tears, more anger, more confusion, more hate. The problem was that with each new experience with this woman those emotions became more and more blurred. Crossing her arms over her chest she stared hard at Barbara. She was scared as hell and her instincts were telling her to hurt them before they hurt her. "Ok, say I believe you about being my mother. Apparently you didn't want me other wise I'd have been with you my whole life and not with Uncle Tony and Mother. So why do you want me now?"

Another small piece of the insane puzzle, Barbara thought. Tony must be the accomplice they'd need to look for. "If I had known you were out there, Harley, I would have done everything in my power to come get you. I didn't know you existed until Dinah told us you were my daughter."

"How could you not know?" Harley asked. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned all her weight on one foot. It was a stance Barbara had taken often whenever she questioned an authority figure, usually her father or Bruce or Selina when she was younger.

"I didn't know Quinn had stolen one of my embryos." Barbara replied honestly. "I didn't know she'd implanted it in someone and I didn't know that ten years ago on the twenty-fourth of September some strange woman was giving birth to my daughter."

Harley stood there, none of what Barbara just said made much sense, but the look in her eyes said more then her words had and it just made the storm inside herself even worse. "How did you know my birthday?"

Barbara looked softly into Harley's eyes. "I've been doing everything I can to find out how and why we've had to miss ten years together."

There was a long moment when no one in the room moved or even breathed, but then Harley exploded. "Stop it! Just stop it! You're turning everything upside down! Stop it!"

"Harley I…" Barbara watched as the girl ran back down the hall towards her bedroom and then sighed when she heard the door slam. "Damnit!"

"You have to mix it all up to sort it all out, Barbara." Helena said from where she'd been sitting. "We've got to tear the kid down and start from scratch."

Barbara shook her head, fighting back her own tears. "I can't do this." Turning around Barbara headed towards the training room to work off some of her anger and clear her head.

Dinah and Helena looked at each other with worried expressions before Dinah decided to follow Barbara. She'd been pretty quiet over the last few days, letting Helena do most of the support stuff because she'd known Barbara longer and because the two of them had gone through some pretty rough stuff together. But now seemed like the right time to add herself to the mix. Helena and Barbara were a lot more like sisters then her and Barbara, and Dinah wondered if she'd ever told Barbara how she truly saw her.

"Barbara?" Dinah said carefully as she stepped into the training room.

"Not now, Dinah, I'm sorry, but please I just need to be alone." Barbara replied as she grabbed her staff.

Dinah walked over and put her hand on the staff, forcing Barbara to look up at her. "I know there's a million and one things going through you head and your emotions are as mixed up and on edge as Harley's, but I know that when all is said and done everything's going to work out."

"Dinah…"

"You're an incredible mother, Barbara." Dinah went on. "You'll get Harley through this and Helena and I will be there with you."

Barbara looked at the younger woman and sighed. "I don't know how to be a mother, Dinah."

Dinah took the staff and put it back on the rack before crouching down in front of Barbara's chair. Taking the older woman's hands in her own Dinah looked into Barbara's eyes. "I know my mother loved me and I still miss her, but when I think about my mom I don't think about Carolyn Lance, Barbara. You've been more of a mom to me then she ever was, and lets not even bring up my foster mother. I know what I went through doesn't measure even close to what Harley's going through, but you got me through some of the hardest times in my life. Just stop and look at what you've done, Barbara. You, me, Helena, Alfred, we're a family because you made us one. You can do this, Barbara." Dinah smiled, there were tears in her eyes and she could see them in Barbara's as well. "Besides, after Helena this is a cake walk."

"How'd you turn out so well?" Barbara asked as she pulled the younger woman into a hug.

"I had a good mom." Dinah replied. "Love you, Barbara."

Barbara felt a small ton of weight lift off her heart. "Love you too, sweetheart."


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning all three women sat at the table in the kitchen watching the door. Harley had refused to come out for dinner the night before, despite Alfred's attempt at bribing her with blueberry pie. When Barbara had gone to say goodnight, not that Harley was responsive to that at all, she'd made it clear that she was to join them for breakfast. When she'd gone in to wake her up she reminded her that she needed to come out and have breakfast with the rest of them, but Harley hadn't replied. The girl had fallen into giving her the cold shoulder treatment.

"Do you think she's coming out?" Dinah asked as they continued to watch the place where the girl would emerge.

"I hope so." Helena replied. "Other wise we're gonna get blueberries with every meal until she does."

Barbara bit her lip as she mumbled. "I like Alfred's blueberry waffles."

"That's because you like blueberry anything." Dinah added in.

Another five minutes passed with no sight of the girl. "Ok, that's it." Helena said as she pushed to her feet. "I'm gonna go get her."

"Helena…" Barbara began but then stopped when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye.

Three pairs of eyes were suddenly on her and it made Harley freeze. She stared back before looking around to see if something was happening, when she realized it was her they were looking at she asked, "What?"

"You came out." Dinah replied, more then a little shocked.

"I didn't have a choice." Harley said looking directly at Barbara as she carefully made her way towards the table.

"What took you so long?" Helena asked. "I'm starving and we've been waiting on you."

Harley slipped into the chair she was guessing was meant for her. "I took a shower. There some rule against that?"

Helena glared at the girl. "You took a thirty minute shower? There's not that much of you to wash."

"I had to fight my way through the jungle of pantyhose." Harley snapped back, but not in a hateful way, just a bratty way. "I nearly got taken out by a pair of fishnets."

That made Barbara snort, nearly sending coffee through her nose. After clearing her throat and hiding her amusement behind her napkin she looked at the girl and smiled. "I'm glad you decided to join us, Harley. I know it wasn't an easy decision to make."

Harley just shrugged. "Like I said. I didn't have a choice. You said I had too."

"Ahh good morning Miss Harley." Alfred said cheerfully as he appeared with the still hot blueberry waffles. "I do hope you like waffles." He put one on the plate in front of her before setting the platter down for the adults to help themselves.

Soft green eyes lit up. "Blueberry?"

"Indeed." Alfred said as he smiled while pouring Harley's juice and then coffee for his other girls.

After watching Alfred drizzle on the blueberry syrup she choose she gave him a genuinely warm, bright smile. "Thank you, Alfred."

That smile sent a jolt through the old man's heart. He remembered that smile. He remembered seeing it on a grieving young boy who thought he would be forever alone following the loss of his parents. Alfred blinked and then shared a look with Barbara before turning to smile at Harley. "You're very welcome, Miss Harley."

Barbara found great relief in seeing Harley at least being receptive to Alfred. It was a start that she really hoped they could build on. She watched the girl across the table for a moment and then suddenly realized how crazy this all was. She had a ten-year-old daughter with meta powers and attitude enough to spare, not to mention the damage done by one of her greatest enemies.

"Harley," Dinah said looking up at the girl from her own plate. "I was wondering if there was anything I could pick up for you while I'm out today."

Harley looked up with a dribble of syrup dripping down her chin. "Huh?"

"You know, books, games, stuff like that." Dinah replied. "We don't exactly have a lot of kid stuff around here. You must be bored out of your mind."

"I've been to busy planning my escape to be bored." Harley replied.

Barbara's head shot up. She really hoped that was just Harley's sense of humor.

"Ok, no junior mission impossible kits for you." Dinah chuckled.

Harley looked at Dinah for several long moments before asking, "You really gonna get me stuff?"

"Sure." Dinah replied. "I was even trying to talk your mo…" She stopped short when she got a deadly look from the kid. "Barbara into letting us redecorate your room. She thinks we should wait until you're more comfortable here."

"Guess you'll never get to play with paint samples then." Harley replied, glancing at Barbara before turning her attention back to her breakfast. She took the time she was sitting there to really look the place over, and fighting with herself not to think it was cool. As Alfred started clearing the table she finally asked, "Why do you all live in a giant clock?"

"Why is that always the first thing they ask?" Helena asked with a snort. It was one of the memories about Guy she held onto as tightly as she could, as if someone could rip it away from her if she didn't.

"Because living in a clocktower hasn't caught on as a trend yet?" Dinah offered.

Helena turned to look at Barbara and smirked, "Why did you pick a clocktower?"

Barbara simply smiled. "I liked the view."

Harley watched carefully as the three adults talked. They seemed so normal. They teased each other, and laughed, and they looked at each other in ways that Harley wouldn't have thought bad people would look at each other. There was something warm about it all. This was not what she thought she knew about these people. "Do I have to go back to the room now?"

"No." Barbara answered. "In fact, why don't you go wash up and then we can show you around, ok?"

The girl shrugged as she got up. As she headed for the bathroom she couldn't help but sigh. They were so far up and the only way out was the elevator she saw. How was she going to get away if she couldn't get out? She was starting to feel a deep hopelessness that was actually kind of comforting. If she let in the nothing feeling then she wouldn't feel all the bad and mixed up stuff. She missed Mother and she missed Duela, but there was something else, something that truly scared her. After washing her face Harley looked into the bathroom mirror, then pulled the picture of Barbara out of her back pocket. She held it up and looked at it while looking at her reflection. The "I don't fit" feeling was gone.

"According to her dad Barbara was a real brat when she was your age."

Harley jumped, held the picture close, and grabbed a curling iron to use as a weapon. She hadn't even heard Helena coming. She stood there wide-eyed like a scared rabbit.

Helena raised an eyebrow and smirked as she crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe. "What? You gonna curl me to death?"

The girl gave her a hateful look before putting the curling iron down. "You shouldn't sneak up on people. It's a good way to get hurt."

That made Helena laugh. "Trust me kid, there's no way you're hurting me."

Harley smirked. "Still got the bruises on your tights from the mall?"

"A minor sting." Helena replied. "I'll admit you're good for a ten year old, but you ain't a fighter. You're just a kid who got used by someone you trusted. Believe me, I understand that part."

"What the hell do you know?" Harley asked as she put the picture in her pocket and then pushed past Helena. She wasn't stupid; she knew the woman let her get by. "Anyone can see Barbara's the brains and you and blondie ain't nothing but the muscle. That's why Mother wanted her out of the way, she didn't care about you two."

Helena was catching on fast. Get the kid ticked off and she lets things slip. As she watched the kid stalking away she smiled. If she wasn't careful she could end up liking this kid. "I thought your mom told you not to call people names?"

Harley spun on her heel in an attempted roundhouse kick but the other woman caught her foot easily. "She's not my mother!" She yelled as she teetering on one foot to keep her balance. "And she said not to call anyone a freak."

It was a real temptation to flip the kid, sending her crashing to the hardwood, and she might have done it if Barbara hadn't chosen that moment to come around the corner.

"What's going on?" Barbara asked.

"Someone wasn't aware of the no fighting outside the training room rule." Helena replied as she let the girl's foot go.

Harley stared so hard at Helena she was hoping the woman could feel it. "You're a jerk."

"Thanks." Helena replied with a cheery smile. "You're a brat. We should get along just fine." She reached out and ruffled the kid's hair and then headed back out towards the main room.

Soft green eyes blinked several times as Harley watched Helena walk away. Then she turned to look at Barbara. "She's really weird."

Barbara tried not to laugh, but did grin a little. "You get use to her." Then her face turned more serious. "Want to tell me why you tried kicking her?"

"She annoyed me." Harley replied and then turned to walk away. She was stopped when she felt a hand grab her wrist. Turning she saw Barbara looking at her in a way that told her she'd better keep quiet and listen to what she was about to say.

"First off young lady," Barbara started. "You do not walk away from me when we're talking. Second, I think we need to set some ground rules." She noticed the girl getting ready to protest but she shook her head, letting her know she didn't want to hear it. "Don't say it, Harley. No, I'm not Quinn," It hadn't gone unnoticed that Harley used only the word mother when talking about Quinn. Kids her age normally used shortened versions of the title, mom, mommy, mama, and so on. She was fair sure she'd heard Duela say Mommy, but Harley always said mother. "I am however you're mom," She hoped using a different version of the title would be helpful. "Wither you want to believe and accept that or not, it's the truth. I am your mom, and this is your home, here with me and with the others. So I think we need to get some things laid out on the table."

"I don't have to listen to you." Harley hissed defiantly.

"You do if you want any amount of freedom around here." Barbara replied, using the tone of voice that normally made Helena shut up and listen. "Now, right up front. We don't fight each other. We do not solve our problems by pounding each other. The way I see it you now owe both Helena and Dinah an apology for how you've treated them."

Harley snorted. "That'll be the day."

Barbara held back a sigh. "I don't know how you were expected to act before, but as of now you are expected to show some level of respect to the adults around here. We are all giving you some leeway because of what's happened, but I'm not going to allow you to use that as an excuse to behave badly."

The girl stood there staring. She'd never been talked to that way before. As long as she did well with her training Mother couldn't have cared less about how she acted, but this woman was actually taking the time to yell at her. She wasn't sure what to make of it all.

"Harley," Barbara snapped firmly. "Are you listening to me?" The girl just gave her a slight nod with a bewildered look in her eyes. For the briefest of moments Barbara actually thought about having Dinah look into Harley's mind to see what her childhood had been like up until now. "You've never really been reprimanded have you?"

"Not really." Harley answered. "As long as I did my school work and training Mother didn't care what we did. If one of the nannies tried to yell at us or punish us we'd tell Mother and they wouldn't be back."

She didn't think Quinn was the motherly type. Having nannies, tutors, and a rotation of people to do the daily childcare, leaving her to do the real damage that made sense to Barbara. "Well that's not how it's going to be here, sweetheart. Here we're going to have rules and privileges, and consequences."

Harley snorted and crossed her arms. "You're Oracle, you're gonna be to busy sticking your nose into things at your fancy computers to care what I'm doing."

Barbara shook her head as she reached out to brush at the girl's hair. "You're my first priory, Harley. Yes, what Helena, and Dinah and I do is very important to me, to all of us, but it's not more important then we are to each other."

"That's stupid." Harley replied, though she didn't back away from Barbara's touch. "How can you plan to take over New Gotham if it's not the most important thing?"

"Well for one we're not trying to take over New Gotham." Barbara answered. She could actually feel a new warmth in her heart as the girl stood there allowing the contact. "We protect New Gotham from the bad people who want to hurt the people who live here."

"Where's the power in that?" Harley asked as if she truly didn't understand, which she really didn't. Her mommy had always said power was everything and in order to have power you had to be willing to do anything, even kill.

Barbara smiled at that as she caressed her daughter's cheek then withdrew her hand, not wanting to push too much to fast. "It's not about power, Harley. It's about doing what's right."

Harley opened her mouth to argue another point but couldn't think of one. "How do you know what's right?"

"You start by learning and then you go from how it feels inside." Barbara explained.

The girl stood there looking at the woman for several minutes before finally shaking her head. "You're all nuts. You got everything all backwards."

"Sweetheart, I think you're the one who's got it all backwards." Barbara replied and then added before the girl could blow up, "Come on, I want to show you around."

There were two parts to the Clocktower, the penthouse and the lair. The penthouse is where they lived, and the lair was where the adults worked. She would be allowed up in the lair, but every room had rules. She wasn't allowed in the training room at all for now, but maybe later and then only with an adult. The lab was off limits, she wasn't allowed to touch any of the tech stuff, and she wasn't allowed anywhere near the huge computer set up in the middle of the main room. There was another room that was off limits, but that one was locked down. Harley figured it was a vault or something. She was shown where everyone's bedrooms were, both Dinah and Helena still had their own rooms even thought they had their own places. "Not that you'd be able to tell since they're always here." Barbara had joked. Barbara's bedroom was actually right near the one Harley was in and it had nearly knocked the girl off her feet when she was told she could come in whenever she needed to. The house she lived in with Mother and Duela was huge but she and Duela were only allowed in their own room.

"Saved the best for last." Barbara said with a bright smile as she led the girl out onto the terrace. "You can see all of New Gotham from up here." She watched as Harley looked at the view with wide eyes and the hint of a smile. "This is another place I'd prefer you have someone with you, Harley. You're to little to be out here alone."

Harley groaned. "God you have a lot of rules. How the hell am I suppose to remember them all?"

"You'll learn." Barbara said plainly, taking note of Harley's annoyed acceptance that she'd have to be around to follow the rules. "And watch you're language, young lady. I don't want to hear you swearing. Next swear word that crosses those lips costs you your dessert."

Harley spun around to look at the woman. She wanted to fight with her, to tell her off, to tell her to go to hell and leave her alone. But she didn't want to be sent inside just yet, she wanted to stay out there for a little while longer, so she growled and huffed before turning her back on the woman and crossing her arms.

"How long have they been out there?" Helena asked as she came up behind Dinah who was looking through the clock face window.

"Almost an hour." Dinah replied.

"Are they talking?" Helena asked.

The blonde shook her head. "No, they've just been out there."

Helena nodded as she started walking towards the balcony doors. She actually knocked to get Barbara's attention before stepping out to join them. She looked over at the kid and smiled. There was a brightness to the kid's eyes she hadn't seen before. "So what do you think, kid?"

"I still don't get the giant clock thing but Barbara was right about the view." Harley replied without taking her eyes off the city.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool." Helena replied as she walked over to stand next to Barbara. "It's one of my favorite places."

The three of them stood out there until Dinah came out. "Um, Barbara, Delphi."

Barbara simply nodded. "Harley, we need to go inside now. Helena, Dinah and I need to talk privately. Would you go find Alfred and see if he needs any help?"

Harley spun around and glared. "No! I don't want to go inside. I like it out here. It's the only thing about this whole stupid place I like."

"We're going inside Harley. We'll come back out after dinner." Barbara replied as she gave the girl a look that made Helena and Dinah flinch. "If you fight with me over this then not only will you go inside but you'll spend the rest of the evening in your room."

Tiny fists balled at Harley's side, as she stood stone still.

"Harley." Barbara warned.

Helena stood there and watched the face off and actually wondered which one was going to give in.

"Harley, go inside, now." Barbara repeated.

Harley fought with herself. Part of her was telling her to listen to this woman, the other part was screaming at her telling her not to give in, and it all played out in her eyes for the adults too see.

"Alright fine." Barbara replied, moving closer to the girl. "Go to your room Harley. Now."

After a few more long moments of hard staring Harley finally huffed and stormed off the balcony.

Barbara sighed as she rubbed her face with her hands.

"It's only been a couple of days Barbara." Helena reminded her.

"I know." Barbara replied before heading inside and over to Delphi. She logged in and checked what had come up. She taped at her keyboard for several minutes before reading over what was on the screen.

"Anything good?" Helena asked.

"I've been running a program that would cross reference Quinn's name with the name Tony." Barbara explained.

"And what did it come up with?" Helena asked.

"Doctor Anthony Nash." Barbara answered. "Apparently they attended medical school together and he's worked with her on a couple of occasions." She read through a couple more documents before going on. "He suddenly dropped off the radar ten years ago. The last time he's listed as working any where is at New Gotham General…"

"Barbara?" Dinah asked carefully when she noticed all the color drain from Barbara's face before her cheeks flushed red.

"He was a fertility specialist." Barbara growled.

"Do we know where he's at now?" Helena asked.

Barbara went back to typing before actually laughing. "He used his credit card to check into the Claymore Hotel the same night as our little trip to the carnival. He's still there."

Helena headed towards the elevator. "Then that's where Canary and I will be."


	9. Chapter 9

As Helena and Dinah went off to get ready Barbara printed out a picture of Doctor Nash. She knew now wasn't the best of times to do this, but she wanted to be sure this was the guy before sending the Huntress after him. She knocked on Harley's door before letting herself in.

"Come to yell at me some more?" Harley asked, anger still lacing her voice.

"No." Barbara replied. "Though I think we need to talk."

Harley snorted. "All you ever want to do is talk."

"It's the best way to get through this, Harley." Barbara replied simply.

Harley closed her eyes as she lay back against her pillows. "I don't want to get through anything. I just want the world to make sense again."

Barbara rolled closer to the bed and reached out to wipe away a tear from Harley's cheek. "I'm so sorry you're caught up in all of this." When the girl didn't reply she bit back a sigh and held up the picture. "Harley would you look at this for me?"

Harley opened her eyes and turned her head. As soon as she saw who was in the picture she bolted straight up. "That's Uncle Tony." She said as she snatched the picture. Then she looked up at Barbara and glared. "How'd you get this?"

"From his personal file at New Gotham General." The woman explained. Her mind raced with ways to explain even more stuff that barely made any sense to her to a ten year old. "He worked there a long time ago." 

"Before he stopped to take care of me and Duela until Mother could come back." Harley jumped in. "I use to hear him trying to talk Mother out of stuff, like increasing my escrima training, but Mother always said it was necessary to the plan."

"What plan?" Barbara asked as if she didn't already know.

Harley looked up and was about to just spit it out but she found it a little harder to say. "To kill you."

"Thank you, Harley." Barbara gave the girl a warm smile before turning to leave.

"Are you going to send him away too?" Harley asked before Barbara could reach the door.

The redhead stopped and turned to face the girl again. She paused a moment and then went back to the bedside. "He helped Quinn steal something from me. Something very important."

"Me?" Harley asked, but wouldn't look at the other woman.

"Yes." Barbara replied honestly.

Harley looked confused. None of this made any sense. She knew how babies were made. How could this woman be her mother and not have made her? "How did they steal me? Not that I believe they did, or anything."

Barbara held back a grin at the girl's need to cover her question. "Do you know how babies are made, Harley?" The girl nodded, so Barbara began to explain what she knew. It was pretty much a child's version of what she'd told Helena.

"So you think that Uncle Tony stole your frozen baby cells so Mother could make me?" Harley looked even more confused. "Why would they do that?"

"To hurt me." Barbara answered. "When I was Batgirl I helped put the Joker in prison. Then when Quinn tried to take over the city I helped Helena and Dinah stop her and put her in prison. She hurt a lot of people who are and were important to me before we could stop her."

Harley thought about that for a while and then shook her head. "No, Mother wanted me. I was special to her." She could feel the sting of tears in her eyes but she wouldn't shed them. She did bring her knees up to her chest and hide her face in her thighs. "I miss her."

Barbara sighed as she reached out to caress the girl's hair. "I know you do, Harley."

"You're not mad because I miss her?" Harley asked more then a little surprised. She turned to look at Barbara, resting her cheek against her knees.

"I can't pretend the last ten years of your life didn't happen, Harley." She just couldn't get comfortable calling her daughter by that name. In the back of her mind she knew she'd change it at some point. She had too. She couldn't get the sight of Quinn out of her head each time she said it.

Harley stared hard at the redhead as she felt a headache building behind her eyes. "Why are you being so nice? You're supposed to be the bad people!" In an angry huff she threw herself back into her pillows before pulling the blankets up over her so she could hide.

"We're not the bad guys here, sweetheart." Barbara said carefully. "I hope someday you'll be able to see that."

The room was dark as Tony stepped inside. He couldn't believe it. Josh was telling him that there was nothing he could do to get the boss out. He'd said that the police have a solid case with all the new counts, plus there was the fact that the boss was a fugitive. To top it all off Josh also told him that the police were looking for anyone who'd helped the boss escape or kidnap the Gordon kid. "Gordon kid," he mumbled out loud. "I bet little Harley's loving that."

"We'd really prefer you didn't call her that." Dinah called out from the shadows.

Tony stopped cold, his hand slipping into the inside of his jacket for his gun.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Helena added as she came up behind him, hitting him hard in the back of the head, dropping him to his knees. Coming around she reached in and grabbed his gun, tossing it onto the bed.

Tony looked up at the woman and the blonde who joined her. "You." He hissed as he got to his feet. "How did you…"

"You used your own credit card." Dinah answered. "Can you say stupid criminal of the month?"

The man stood at his full height and tugged at his jacket to straighten it. "I'm not a criminal."

"Sure you are," Helena smiled as she pushed him causing him to stumble. "We know you worked at New Gotham General, we know you had access to the fertility clinic's recourses, meaning you had access to Barbara Gordon's account. We also know that for the last ten years you've been playing man-nanny to her child. You're going to be spending a lot of time behind bars."

"You can't prove…" Tony stammered.

Helena pushed him so hard he hit the wall. "We can and we have."

"Got a positive ID too." Dinah added. She wanted a piece of him herself, but roughing them up was Helena's job.

"Little Harley wouldn't…" Tony started but then couldn't finish.

Helena hit him in the gut. "We said not to call her that and for your information she already has."

An hour later when Helena and Dinah stepped off the elevator Helena looked up at Barbara who was sitting at Delphi. She was expecting the older woman to say something about her going overboard with Nash. "Reese picked up Nash. He said the judge handed him the warrant as soon as he handed him the evidence. There's a team combing through all of his records to see what else he might have been up too."

"Good." Barbara replied. "From what I was able to find out he had a nice little side business going selling eggs, sperm, and even embryos to the highest bidder."

Walking over to her mentor, sister, and best friend Helena sighed as she sat on the desk next to her. "Barbara, I'm…"

"Don't, Helena." Barbara cut her off and then looked up at her. "You don't have to keep apologizing to me. Quinn used you, she betrayed your trust."

"But if I hadn't have brought you up so much she wouldn't have taken an interest in Barbara Gordon and Nash wouldn't have told her about coming across your account." Helena said quickly before Barbara could stop her.

Barbara reached over and put her hand over Helena's. "Helena. Stop blaming yourself. I thought we'd gotten past this?"

"That was before we found out that my mistake has cost you even more pain." The younger dark haired woman replied.

"I'm more angry then I am in pain." Barbara sighed but then to Helena's surprise she smiled. "But there is a silver lining to all of this."

Helena blinked. "What?"

Barbara's smile brightened. "Harley."

Helena smiled as well. "She's gonna be a good kid once you get her straightened out."

"I hope you're right." Barbara replied.

"Don't worry we'll help." Helena said as Dinah joined them. "We did ok with this one."

Dinah grinned.

"I hate to disrupt the moment." Alfred said as he came into view, a bright twinkle in his eyes.

"It's alright Alfred." Barbara laughed as she looked over at him. "Is everything alright?"

Alfred nodded. "And hopefully on it's way to being much better. Doctor Tompkins is here."

Barbara nodded as she secured Delphi and then headed down the ramp towards the old Englishmen.

"Leslie Tompkins?" Helena asked.

Barbara nodded as she headed for the elevator. "She was a friend of your father's. She was there for him as a kid, kind of became the maternal figure to Alfred's paternal figure."

"So I take it she knows who he was?" Helena asked as they stepped out into the penthouse.

"I know who your mother was as well." Leslie said with a warm smile.

Helena turned to see an elderly white haired woman standing next to Alfred in the living room.

"The Bat and the Cat." Leslie chuckled. "I kept telling him he needed to marry Selina but like most men," She glanced at Alfred. "When that subject came up he suddenly had to leave."

"I think I'll make tea." Alfred told them before heading towards the kitchen.

Leslie laughed. "See." Turning to Barbara, Leslie took the young woman's hand. "It's good to see you again, Barbara."

Barbara smiled warmly. "I wish it were less of a professional call, Leslie, but it is good to see you as well."

The white haired woman nodded as she took a seat near the redhead. "So tell me about this little girl of yours?"

"Her name's Harley." Barbara began. "Well, for now it is." She added and then filled her old acquaintance in on Harley and everything they'd come to find out. Once she was finished she led Leslie to Harley's room. "She may not be willing to talk."

Leslie smiled reassuringly. "I can bet on it, but don't worry Barbara. I'll do everything I can to help your daughter."

"I know." Barbara smiled in return. "That's why I called you. I wouldn't trust anyone else." Reaching out she knocked on the door before letting herself in. "Harley, there's someone here I'd like you to meet."

Harley looked up from the comic book Dinah had gotten her. She looked the older woman over and snorted. "You the shrink she decided to bring in?"

Leslie nodded. "I am a doctor, yes, but I'm also a friend. I've known Barbara for a very long time."

"Form the looks of it you've known everyone a very long time." The girl wisecracked as she sat up.

"Harley." Barbara scolded.

Leslie laughed. "It's alright, Barbara. I've heard worse, besides, she's right."

Harley looked at the old woman with distain. There was no way she was going to let this woman force her into believing all the lies. "I could think of worse things to say."

Before Barbara could say anything Leslie smiled at the girl and asked, "Barbara, would you mind leaving us alone for a little while? I think Harley and I could get better acquainted if she felt a little more free to talk."

She was hesitant, but Barbara nodded. "Of course."

Harley watched as Barbara left the room and then looked at the old woman again. "I'm not talking to you."

"You don't have to." Leslie replied as she sat in an armchair near the window.

"Fine." Harley flopped back down on her bed and went back to reading her comic book.

For quite some time all Leslie did was sit there and watch the girl. She'd smile when Harley looked up to glare at her, but didn't say a word. She'd wait and let the girl say the first word, until then she'd just watch. The girl was tense and a couple of times she thought the girl was going to say something or even throw something, but she only huffed.

Finally after several more long minutes Harley looked up at the woman and glared. "Are you really just going to sit there?"

"Yes." Leslie replied with a warm smile.

"Why?" Harley asked as she sat up, throwing her legs over the side of the bed.

"Because." Leslie answered.

"Because why?" The ten year old shot back.

"Because I'm here for an hour." Leslie replied.

Harley rolled her eyes and groaned. "This is going to be a waste of your time and Barbara's money."

"Barbara isn't paying me." Leslie replied.

That confused the girl. "She's not?"

Leslie shook her head. "She offered, I told her not to be silly."

"Why would you do this for free?" Harley asked. "Mother use to make three hundred an hour or more."

"Because Barbara is a very close friend and I'd do anything to help her." Leslie answered as she sat forward a little.

Harley snorted. "You're not going to talk me into believing all this."

"Believe all of what?" Leslie asked.

"That my Mother didn't really want me, that I was just a tool to her, and that these people actually want me here." Harley answered. "Barbara might be my real mom, but that doesn't mean I have to accept all of this. Mother warned me that if I were ever captured they'd try to turn me against her."

If she could pace, she'd be wearing a groove in the floor. But she couldn't, so all Barbara could do was switch from staring at her lap top screen to the hallway that lead to the bedrooms. A small part of her was hoping that Leslie would come out and say it would be easy to get Harley to adjust, but the rest of her knew that wasn't going to happen. When she saw Leslie coming she secured her link to Delphi and wheeled over to meet her.

"That's quite the little girl you got there, Barbara." Leslie said with a smile. "There's a lot about her that reminds me of you when you were a head strong teenager."

"I sense a but coming." Barbara held back the need to sigh.

Leslie nodded. "She's angry, confused, and hurt. She's facing a situation she'd been prepared for, but it isn't playing out the way she'd been told it would."

That made Barbara blink. "What do you mean prepared for?"

"Apparently she'd been warned that she might be captured, but none of you are acting the way she'd been told you would." Leslie explained as the women moved to where Alfred was setting up tea. "She's been well programmed."

Again Barbara blinked. "Programmed?"

Leslie nodded. "She's been taught and trained to think one way, but her experience with you and her instincts are counter acting the programming."

"What do we do?" The younger woman asked, her soft green eyes full of concern, a little fear, and even more anger.

"We undo the programming and to do that we need to get her to trust you." Leslie explained. "But in order to do that we have to break her trust in Harley Quinn."

Helena stood in the shadows with Dinah listening carefully to everything Leslie had to say. She nodded to herself as she realized she'd more then likely need to go through with her own ideas for opening the kid up. She just hoped Barbara would understand.


	10. Chapter 10

It wasn't the massive storm raging outside the Clocktower's windows that woke Barbara from a somewhat sound sleep, it was the sudden feeling of there being something wrong. With the practiced ease of someone who'd done it a million times, Barbara transferred herself from her bed to her chair, grabbing her robe before wheeling out of her room. She wasn't sure what it was that felt out of place, but she had an idea as to who was causing it. Stopping outside of Harley's room she knocked gently before opening the door. Barbara felt her heart stop when she saw the empty room. Wheeling inside she looked around, finding the bed a mess but the room empty.

"Harley?" She called out softly as she continued to look. There was no reply. Heading out into the hallway Barbara checked the bathroom before heading out into the living room. As she moved through their home she could feel her heart going from not beating to thundering in her chest. She was fairly sure she was close to a heart attack when she finally spotted Harley sitting on the couch. The girl had Helena's cordless headphones on and her face buried deeply into a pillow. Her tiny body was curled into a ball as it trembled visibly. Wheeling over to her, Barbara picked up the remote to the stereo and turned it off.

Harley's head shot up when the music stopped. Red-rimmed green eyes met concerned eyes of the same exact color. The girl was to startled and unnerved by the storm to even worry about the fact that Barbara would be able to see she'd been crying.

"Harley?" Barbara said softly as she came closer to the girl. Reaching out gradually she pulled the headphones off. "Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Harley lied. "I was bored." She sniffled.

Barbara bit back the smile she felt itching at her lips. Even when Harley looked so small and vulnerable she still clung to her bravado. It was unbearably cute. "It's three o'clock in the morning, Harley. You should be sleeping."

"Sleeping is over rated." Harley snapped back, finally realizing that her cheeks were wet with tears when Barbara reached out to wipe them gently with her thumbs.

"You're shaking, sweetheart." Barbara brushed the girl's hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ears. "Are you afraid of the storm?"

At the mention of fear Harley jerked away from the woman's touch. "I'm not afraid of anything!"

"It's alright to be scared, Harley." Barbara told the girl. She kept her voice soft and soothing, pausing for several moments before reaching out again to brush at the child's hair. She wanted to calm Harley down and the best way to do that was through soft words and caring touches. Not for the first time since they'd found Harley, Barbara found herself being grateful for what she'd gone through with Helena. Those years after Selina's death had been hard on both of them and couldn't have been better at preparing Barbara for this. "Everyone knows fear. It's a natural emotion, sweetheart."

"I'm not scared of anything!" Harley repeated, but her words were overshadowed by the whimper that escaped her lips as another clap of thunder shook the Clocktower.

With the same ease she'd used transferring from her bed to the chair, Barbara transferred from the chair to the couch. She pulled Harley close and wrapped her arms around her. Harley went stiff and rigid before fighting against Barbara's hold, but Barbara refused to let go. She held Harley close until another clap of thunder caused the girl to give up her struggle and bury herself in Barbara's embrace.

Helena rubbed sleep from her eyes as she grunted into her cell phone. She was really going to have to talk to Reese about calling her so early in the morning. Reaching the living room of the penthouse the brunette stopped dead in her tracks. She blinked several times at the scene that greeted her, a slow smile appearing where a deep frown had been a second before. Barbara was sound asleep on the couch with Harley. It was the cutest thing she'd ever seen. It was also the most hopeful scene she'd seen in a very long time.

"hmm?" She finally replied when she remembered Reese was on the phone. "Yeah, I heard ya. Yeah, she'll be there. Yeah, I know she'll be pissed off, but do it anyway. Yes, I'm sure. I know what I'm doing. Alright, yeah, sure. Bye." As she made her way towards the kitchen to hunt down a cup of coffee, Helena paused near the stereo. Picking up the empty CD case she wasn't sure wither to be pissed off or impressed. "Well," she huffed as she made her way to the kitchen with her Stevie Nicks CD safely in her possession again. "At least the kid has good taste in music."

"Wow," Dinah said as she made her way into the kitchen. "I don't think I've ever seen Barbara look so peaceful."

Helena nodded with a mouth full of pop-tart. "They've been like that since I got up."

"How long have you been up?" Dinah asked as she made her way towards the coffee pot. "And please tell me you didn't make this?"

"A while and no." Helena huffed. "Alfred made it."

Dinah looked around but didn't see the old yet ageless butler anywhere. "Where is Alfred? I'm starving."

"Sent him after a couple of things." Helena replied as she snatched the cup of coffee Dinah had just poured for herself and downed half of it in three gulps. She smiled a little at the huff she got from the blonde and nearly laughed knowing she was being glared at.

"What are you doing up so early anyway?" Dinah asked as she poured another cup of coffee and then sat across from Helena.

"Reese called." Helena replied after swallowing another mouthful of pop-tart. "He's finally got Barbara set up to see Quinn."

"About damn time."

Both Helena's and Dinah's heads snapped up at the sudden sound of Barbara's voice. It unnerved Helena; she hated it when the redhead snuck up on her.

"So when do I go?" Barbara asked as she stole Dinah's coffee.

Dinah groaned. Why did they always have to take her coffee? "Are you sure you want to do this, Barbara?"

Barbara nodded. "I have to." She replied before looking at Helena.

"This afternoon at four." Helena answered. "He was able to get you in under the victim's rights laws. I guess you have the right to confront the woman who was charged with kidnapping your child."

"I was hoping that's how he'd get me in. Means I get to be alone with her." Barbara said softly as she looked down into the dark liquid in her cup.

Helena's head snapped up again. "Now wait just a minute. There's no way you're going in there alone. That woman can't be trusted!"

"She'll be in her cell." She looked up to meet Helena's bright blue eyes. "I'll be fine, Hel. Don't worry."

"Don't worry she says." Helena huffed. "She wants to have tea with a psychopath and she says not to worry."

Barbara rolled her eyes. "Helena…"

"God you people make a lot of noise in the morning." Harley moaned as she appeared in the same sudden manner her mother had just seconds before.

"Sorry sweetie we didn't mean to wake you." Barbara replied, her tone of voice changing instantly. "You feeling better?"

Harley shrugged as she slumped down into the empty kitchen chair. She wasn't scared any more, no now she was angry. She was angry with herself for allowing Barbara to get so close to her and for feeling weak and helpless. She felt guilty too. She'd allowed herself to be comforted by her mother's enemy. Ok maybe she was still scared but not of the storm, she was scared of how good being held had felt. In that moment of weakness she'd betrayed her mother, and now she knew more then ever that she had to get out. She had to find Duela and they had to find a place to hide until their mother could get free again.

Spotting the CD case near Helena, Harley deiced to change topics before Barbara could get any further on the how do you feel train. "Hey! I was listening to that!"

Helena looked at the case and then at the kid. "It's mine and I don't like people using my stuff."

"Then you shouldn't leave it laying out all over the place." Harley shot back.

"Just because it's out doesn't mean you get to play with it." Helena looked up at the girl.

Harley huffed. "It's not like I scratched it or anything. I'm not a baby I know how to use a CD."

"If you wanna listen to CDs Harley you can use mine." Dinah offered.

"Your CDs all suck." Harley crinkled her nose at the blonde. "The only decent thing I could find was the kitty bat's Stevie Nicks CD."

"Stevie who?" Dinah asked and then flinched. Helena, Harley, and even Barbara were looking at her as if she had lost her mind. "What? Oh for pete's sake I'm getting the "what are you insane?" look form a ten year old."

Harley blinked and then slowly turned her head to look at Helena. "Is she for real?"

"Afraid so." Helena answered.

Barbara knew Harley had picked on Helena to chance the subject and for now she was willing to let it go. She knew last night had been hard on Harley and she wasn't willing to push her to intensely.

"Sorry that took so long." Alfred said as he joined the small group. He smiled brightly as he placed a shopping bag on the table near Helena. "I had to wait for the mall to open."

Helena smiled as she looked into the bag. "Not a problem, Alfred. Thanks."

"Now, how shall I make everyone's eggs?" The old Englishmen asked. He already knew everyone's answer, but it was part of their routine. Once everyone shouted their reply he set about preparing breakfast.

"Here kid." Helena said as she sat the bag in front of Harley.

"What's this?" Harley asked as she started at the bag as if it were going to explode.

Helena smirked. "Look inside and find out."

Harley narrowed her eyes and stared at Helena as she reached for the bag. Peeking inside she blinked and then looked up. Reaching in she pulled out a personal CD player and a stack of CDs, one set of which was the complete Stevie Nicks boxed set. "What's this for?"

"A start to your own collection." Helena replied. "Now leave mine alone. We'll go later so you can pick out more."

Again Harley blinked before narrowing her eyes and staring at Helena. "This some kind of pay off?"

"No." Helena answered as she rolled her eyes. "It's more of a welcome home thing."

Everyone held their breaths waiting for Harley's pointed 'this isn't my home' reply, but it never came. Instead she muttered a barely audible thank you and then began trying to open the CD player. The four adults in the room watched her for a few moments before finally looking up to look at each other. A slow smile came to Barbara's lips as she mouthed her own thank you to Helena who just smiled and shrugged.


	11. Chapter 11

After breakfast Harley went to her room. She listened to a couple of her new CDs before placing them and the player in the small duffle bag she had hidden under her bed. She kept telling herself that she was taking it so she'd have something to do while she was on the run and not because it meant anything to her. Just like the clothes Dinah had gotten her, the books Barbara had gotten her, and the stuffed Batgirl Alfred had given her didn't mean anything to her, and yet were all stuffed into her duffle bag.

During lunch she listened to the adults talk. Barbara was going somewhere that afternoon and Helena and the blonde were going to stay here to watch her. This would be her chance to escape. She'd wait until the two knuckleheads weren't paying attention and slip out. Sure enough shortly after Barbara left the two of them headed up to the training room when they thought Harley was watching a movie. Slipping back to her room Harley grabbed her duffle bag and then headed for the elevator. Her heart pounded as she waited for the doors to open. She held her breath when they finally did, half expecting an alarm to go off, but there wasn't one. Once she was inside she stared at the key panel and sighed. No, it couldn't be a normal elevator where you simply pressed the light up button with the number one or letter G on it, no this one needed a pass code.

Harley all but growled when she realized the keys didn't even show any sign of wear. There was no way she could figure out what the code was so she randomly started pressing in codes. She was starting to feel a panic attack coming on when none of the codes she put in did anything. She knew that sooner or later she'd be missed or she'd set something off, so she needed another way out. Just as she was about to press the button to open the doors the elevator started moving downwards. She held her breath as she descended. When the doors open she bolted, but didn't get far. She ran into someone solid.

"Miss Harley?" Alfred asked, concern on his aged face. "What are you doing in there?"

"Leaving!" Harley shouted in a panic as she pushed past the old man. She ran down the hall only to again be stopped by something solid. Looking up she nearly yelped when she locked eyes with the Huntress.

Helena reached out and took the kid's duffle bag, holding it out for Alfred to take. "Take this back upstairs would ya Alfred?"

Alfred took the bag with a frown. "Miss Helena?"

"The kid and I are going for a ride." Helena explained. "We'll be back before dinner." She didn't give the old man a chance to say anything because she already knew what he was going to say. He was going to tell her that Barbara wouldn't like it, that Barbara didn't think Harley was ready to go outside the Clocktower yet because she was afraid the girl would run. Clearly the girl didn't need the excuse of being outside the Clocktower to try and run.

"We're are we going?" Harley asked from the passenger side of the hummer.

"You'll see." Helena answered.

The sound of her wheelchair echoed against the stonewalls of the cellblock. Barbara stared straight ahead as she followed the prison guard down the long hall towards an iron-bared door. She could feel her heart pounding as she paused so the guard could unlock the door. She took a few more seconds to collect herself before finally wheeling into the outer cell.

Quinn looked up as soon as she heard the sound of the other woman's chair. She'd been told that Barbara was coming and she'd been looking forward to it. Standing slowly she smiled as she moved closer to the Plexiglas wall of her inner cell. "It's so nice to see you again, Babs." She pressed her hand against the glass as if she were reaching out to touch the redhead. "Tell me, how's my darling little angel? Has she tried to kill you again?"

"My daughter is none of your concern." Barbara replied coldly.

"Aww how sweet." Quinn purred. "You're already attached to her." She laughed as she lowered herself into her chair. "That will make it all the sweeter when she finally kills you."

Even though she tried to keep her voice even and her face emotionless, Barbara's eyes blazed with hate and anger. "I didn't come here to listen to your insane ranting. You have information that I need."

The insane blonde looked at her adversary for several long seconds before crossing her legs and sitting back. "So this is the part where I reveal my diabolical master plan to the anxiously waiting hero." Quinn shivered in delight. "Good, I like this part."

"I already know about Nash and how he stole my embryo and I know about the surrogate mother he killed." Barbara wheeled closer. "I just want to know why?"

Quinn smirked as she simply replied, "Why not? I was given an opportunity and I took it." The two shared a look and Harley laughed. Then she began explaining, "I'd known there was something special about Helena the first time I met her. I also knew there had to be something special about you as well given the fact that a session never went by where she didn't bring you up. I took a bit of an interest in you I must say, so imagine my delight when dear sweet stupid Tony told me he'd come across your name in his files."

Barbara listened carefully, closely. Bruce use to tell her that all villains had this insane need to talk, as if they were seeking some kind of recognition for their work, and that the Joker had been the worse of them. So it wasn't surprising that his woman would have the same acknowledgment syndrome. She wanted validation for being cleverly cruel.

"Tony took one of your embryos and hid it for me. I really didn't have a clue as to what to do with it at first, but I knew that I'd come up with something simply delightful. Funny thing is, it was actually Helena, dear sweet Helena, always the unknowing betrayer, who gave me the idea. Once that little seed was planted everything else fell into place." Quinn went on. "See I always have a back up plan and my darling little Harley was my plan B. What better way to get to you, if you happen to foil my little take over, then to have your own flesh and blood betray you. You don't fool me, Babs. I know just how deeply Helena's actions hurt you. I also know that you don't blame her because, well, it was really me. So I know you'd have never blame Harley, which is why she wouldn't have actually killed you that night at the fair grounds. That would have been to easy."

Green eyes narrowed as Barbara moved even closer to the cell.

"Here's where it gets really good." Quinn leaned forward, her eyes dancing as she smiled brightly. "See, none of this was meant to happen until Harley was a little older, but I'm afraid I have a touch of A.D.D and simply couldn't wait. I wanted you and the others dead, and I wanted the pleasure of killing you myself, but not before I told you who Harley was. Oh yes, I had every intention of telling you she was your daughter. I was planning on telling you just before making you watch as I stabbed her in the heart."

"You created her just to kill her in front of me?" Barbara asked in disbelief. This was way beyond sick.

"Of course." Quinn replied as if it were obvious. "She was going to be of use in the mean time. If you haven't noticed she has your intellect and genetic copies of Helena's meta abilities. She would have been useful, but in the end, it's not like she's my precious Duela, my perfect little pearl. I knew me and my Mister J would make a beautiful baby." There was a dreamy look on Quinn's face before she turned to look at Barbara again. She shrugged as she simple said, "Little Harley was simply born to die."

"Mother?" Harley called out from where the girl stood with Helena.

Both Quinn and Barbara turned to see Harley standing at the cell door. The girl had tears in her eyes and was shaking almost violently.

Quinn giggled. "Oh dear. Looks like the cat's out of the bag." Then she tisked and shook her head. "I'm disappointed Little Harley, I'd have thought they'd be dead by now."

Barbara stared in disbelief, her gaze switching between Harley and Helena who stood behind the girl. Turning back to Quinn she nearly growled, "It's over Quinn, you lose, now go to hell."

She watched as Barbara wheeled towards the door and then called out, "Oh I wouldn't say it's over Babs." Once the woman was gone she laughed. "I still have a trick left in my bag."


	12. Chapter 12

He watched as Helena wiped down glass after glass only to slam them on the bar top. Dinah had called him an hour ago and told him that Helena and Barbra had gotten into a huge fight over Harley's little visit to see Quinn. He really couldn't blame Barbara for being upset, but he also understood Helena's reasoning. "What did you expect Barbara to say? Gee, Hel. Thanks for traumatizing my already traumatized kid?"

Helena glared at Reese for several long seconds before finally snapping, "No!" She turned to grab a bottle off the counter behind her. Now that she owned the Dark Horse she could drink all the supply she wanted. "But she didn't have to go all postal and over react the way she did!"

"She'll calm down once she knows Harley's alright." Reese tried to reassure her as he reached out to take her hand. "You're her kid too after all."

"I hope so." Helena finally sighed. Harley had been so still and quite on the ride back. It had almost seemed as if the girl had gone catatonic, and when Dinah had called she'd said she was still like that. Helena was really starting to question if her bright idea had really been all that bright.

"Come on, let's grab dinner." Reese said as he pulled her from around the bar. "Give Barbara the night to settle then go check on things in the morning."

Helena just nodded and allowed him to lead her out to his car. She spent the whole ride to the restaurant toying with her earrings, begging anyone out there listening to hear Barbara's voice suddenly come over the link. Half way through dinner when her comm. link finally did click on it wasn't Barbara's voice coming through.

"Huntress," Dinah called. "We got a problem, we need you at the Clocktower." The blonde stood at Delphi's controls staring out the clock face window. Harley, dressed in her nightgown and with bare feet, was standing on the head of the gargoyle. The wind was whipping at her nightgown and hair as she stood on the edge of its head. Barbara was out there trying to talk the girl down, but Harley wasn't listening. She hadn't said a word since they'd gotten back. She'd been nothing but a shell as Barbara had gotten her ready for bed, and in the brief half hour it had taken for Barbara to call Leslie, Harley had slipped out of her room and out onto the balcony. Dinah barely heard Helena say she was on her way but managed a scared sounding, "Please hurry, Hel."

I'm disappointed Little Harley. I'm disappointed Little Harley. It kept replaying in her mind over and over again. The sound of her Mother's voice saying those words over and over again, as if it were a song on a CD stuck on repeat. It's the only thing Harley could hear. It was the only thing she could focus on. She'd failed. She'd disappointed Mother. She was a bad daughter. A failure. A disgrace. She knew what she had to do.

Barbara's heart stopped as Harley took another small step towards the edge. Her tiny little toes were now over the edge of the stone head she was standing on. Tears welled in her eyes then rolled down her cheeks with each blink of her green eyes. "Harley baby please come down." She tried again. "Sweetheart, please. Please come down and talk to me. We can get through this."

Sensing someone coming closer to her Harley looked over her shoulder and blinked.

"Harley, take my hand sweetheart," Barbara stretched out her arm, praying her little girl would take it. They'd only known each other for such a short time, but the love and connection had happened instantly and Barbara couldn't imagine her life without this child in it now. "It's to dangerous to be up there, please baby take my hand before you get hurt."

Harley started at the woman in the chair, Mother's enemy, her target, and the reminder of her failure. Her mother. Harley blinked. The woman was her mother, her real mother, and Harley Quinn was going to use her to hurt her. Harley Quinn didn't love her. She was bad. She was a disgrace. A failure.

"Harley baby please." Barbara didn't know what else to do but beg. Her transponder was still busted and there wasn't a goddamn thing she could do from her chair.

The woman's voice began to over lap Mother's, but her Mother's was still louder. I'm disappointed Little Harley. "Don't call me that." Harley said hoarsely.

"Don't call you what, baby?" Barbara asked, relived that the girl had finally said something.

"I'm not Harley, I'm not anyone." Harley answered.

Barbara held back a flinch. How do you deal with a ten year old who's lost her identity? "That's not true, sweetheart."

"I'm bad." Harley said as tears welled in her eyes.

"No baby you're not bad." Barbara replied as she reached out again. "Please come down. Please come talk to me."

Harley shook her head. "I failed. Mother's angry. I have to be punished."

"You didn't fail at anything, Harley." Tear glistening eyes looked right at her, but Barbara couldn't see anything in her daughter's eyes. There was no emotion, only a blank, almost empty look despite the tears. "Oh God." She whispered. Just like Helena's when she'd been put under Quinn's mind control. "Harley, baby, listen to me. Listen to the sound of my voice and ignore everything else."

"Don't call me that!" Harley screamed. The wind was starting to pick up and it was starting to rain, but she didn't notice. "I failed! I'm not Harley! I'm no one! I'm nothing!"

"That's not true!" Barbara said firmly. "You are someone! You are someone to me! You are my daughter!"

Harley crouched down a little so she could look at the woman in the chair. "I'm no one! I'm a failure, a tool that didn't work. I'm not Little Harley. I'm nothing. No name. No person. I don't even have my own powers! I have hers!" She pointed at where Huntress had just landed in the shadows. "And even with her powers I failed." Standing she went back to the edge of the gargoyle. "Mother's angry. I know what I have to do."

"You do have a name!" Barbara yelled, noticing the girl was about to jump. She was going to kill Quinn. She was going to make her pay painfully for what she'd done. "It's Selina." Barbara was on the edge of her chair, nearly out of it. She could see Helena getting into place to grab the girl just in case. The rain was really starting to come down and that stone got really slippery when it was wet. "Selina Carolyn Gordon."

Harley turned to look at Barbara, but didn't say anything.

"You're not a nobody." Barbara went on. "You're my daughter. You're Helena's niece. You're Dinah's little sister. You're Alfred's granddaughter. You're a sweet little girl who loves blueberries, classic rock bands, and Spider-Girl comics. You're a smart, gifted little girl whose favorite colors are pink, green, orange and blue. You think it's funny when Helena and Dinah argue. You like putting mini candy bars in your popcorn. Thunderstorms scare you, and you sneak into my room at night when you think I'm asleep because all your feelings are mixed up. Your head is telling you one thing, but your heart tells you another."

All of it was true, how'd she know all of that?

The unspoken question made Barbara smiled as the rain really started to come down. "I'm your mom, Selina. I'm your mother. This is your home. I love you. We love you."

"Love me?" Harley asked her voice a trembling stutter. "But I… I…" Her head was starting to hurt. Reaching up she rubbed her temples and shook her head.

Helena saw the girl inch her foot forward as she closed her eyes tightly. "Yeah, kid. We all love ya."

Dinah nodded. "You're family, Selina."

Barbara held out her hand again. "Baby, please take my hand."

Harley, no, she wasn't Harley anymore. Selina looked between the three of them. She was shivering from the cold and rain, her head was pounding, she couldn't think. The more she listened to them and less to the voice in her head, the worse the pain got. She looked at Barbara's hand, then out over the edge of her perch into the inky darkness. She wanted the hurt to stop, the hurt in her head, and the hurt in her heart. There was too much pain.

Helena held her breath as they waited for the girl to do something. Seconds began to feel like hours, and just as she was about to do something she saw her reach out to take Barbara's hand, but the girl's foot slipped on the wet stone. With the reflexes of a cat she sprung, catching the girl before she could fall off the roof.

Barbara's heart stopped when she saw her daughter's foot slip. A moment later the girl was being placed in her lap. She wrapped her arms tightly around her little girl, positively sure she'd never let her go. "It's ok, baby." Barbara whispered softly as she held her daughter tightly. "I got you. Your mama's got you."


	13. Chapter 13

Three pairs of eyes watched the hallway entrance that lead to the bedrooms. No one had said anything since they'd brought Selina inside. Barbara had refused to let her go until Leslie arrived. It had taken another hour after that for her to agree to leave Leslie and Selina alone. Selina had looked so broken sitting on her bed wrapped in a blanket and shivering despite having changed into a dry, warm pair of pjs. It was a sight that Barbara would never forget, nor would she ever forgive. If she ever saw Quinn again, she would kill her and nothing would stop her this time.

Helena felt like shit. She'd taken the kid there; she'd put her in a position to totally break down like this. She never meant to hurt the kid; she just wanted her to see the truth. "Barbara I…"

"Not now, Helena." Barbara said sharply.

Silence fell over the room again until Leslie came out. As soon as they'd seen her Helena and Dinah were on their feet and Barbara was wheeling over to her. "I've given her something to help her sleep." Leslie said with a sigh as she rubbed her face.

"Was it mind control?" Barbara asked.

Leslie nodded. "Planted deep in her subconscious." The elderly woman replied. "Something she said to Harley…"

"Selina." Barbara corrected.

Leslie smiled tiredly. "Selina. Something Quinn said to her must have been the trigger."

Helena dropped her head. "Oh God, Barbara I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"If you hadn't she'd have never accepted any of you." Leslie cut in. When three pairs of eyes were once again fixed on her she explained, "It was a fail safe. If she hadn't have triggered the subliminal command, Selina would never have been able to move on. If you hadn't have gotten through to her, she'd have jumped. It was a termination protocol."

"She isn't a computer." Barbara hissed softly.

"No," Leslie replied as she put a hand on the younger woman's shoulder. "But she was indeed programmed like one. Quinn's methods are good, but luckily for Selina she keeps underestimating you three."

"Is she going to be ok?" Dinah asked.

Leslie nodded. "In time, now that there's nothing in the way."

"Are you sure there aren't any more road blocks?" Barbara asked. It was physically painful just sitting there talking. She wanted to be with her daughter, watching her, making sure she was ok, keeping her safe. "There's no other programming that could be triggered?"

"Well," Leslie replied with a sigh. "I can only go by what I gain from talking to her, but there is a way to find out for sure. Years ago Bruce use to work with a man out of Colorado."

"John Jones." Barbara cut in. "He was a police detective that Batman worked with a couple of times. He's a telepath." She left out the part about him being a Martian.

Dinah looked a little hurt over the idea of bringing in another telepath. "What am I chopped liver?"

Leslie smiled. "No dear, but John has more experience and training in psychology. He would know what to look for and how to undo any further mind traps."

Wheeling over to her laptop, Barbara began to type quickly, only pausing long enough to put her earpiece in. With Delphi's help she was able to connect to a channel she hadn't used since she was Batgirl. "Martian Manhunter, this is Oracle. J'onn, I need your help."

The child's mind was a maze that the mental projection of John Jones traveled carefully. He was looking for hidden traps and triggers, but he was also looking for the child herself. He knew she was asleep, he could feel the effects Leslie's drug was having on the child's mind, but he should still have run into her mind self. When he finally found her she was dressed in a strange combination of Harley Quinn's red and black outfit and Batgirl's batsuit. She was sitting in the middle of the maze playing. When he approached her she looked up at him unafraid.

"Who are you?" She asked.

J'onn knelt down. "I am a friend of your mother's."

Harley/Selina titled her head to the side. "My good mother or my bad mother?"

"Your true mother." He replied.

The landscape changed as memories flashed all around them. J'onn watched, knowing this little girl had a long road ahead of her.

"Then you're a friend of Barbara's." She said matter of factly. "What are you looking for?"

"Anything that could hurt you." J'onn replied.

The child pointed to a black box. "Like that?"

J'onn nodded, and then began to work on undoing what the box held.

Barbara sat beside the bed where Selina remained asleep. She shifted her gaze between the others in the room. J'onn, in his John Jones form, stood at the foot of her bed, Leslie on the other side, and her two girls were at her sides. She could already feel the weight of the next few months on her shoulders. She knew Selina would need time to heal, and now she had to work things out with Helena as well. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so angry and hurt by her young partner. It hadn't even hurt this much when Wade had died. Glancing up at the dark haired young woman she could see and sense her fears. The girl was scared that she'd finally done something to push her away. Reaching out, Barbara took Helena's hand for a moment and squeezed it before letting it go again.

"She is safe." J'onn said suddenly as he came out of his trance like state. He looked at Barbara with kindness and a soft smile. "Her mind is troubled, but I have undone any further mind traps. She has a lot of healing to do, but her heart is clear even if her mind is not."

Barbara closed her eyes and let out a long, slow breath. "Thank you John."

The tall man simply nodded. "If you need me Barbara, just call."

"I will, John. Thank you." She watched as he left and then reached out to brush at her daughter's hair.

"I'll come by tomorrow, Barbara." Leslie said with a reassuring smile. "We'll go from there, alright?"

Barbara nodded, her attention solely on her child.

Helena and Dinah stood there for some time after Leslie had left, each of them with a hand on Barbara's shoulder. After a while longer Helena stepped away. "I should go."

Looking up Barbara watched as her best friend headed for the bedroom door, part of her wanted her to leave because she was still angry, but a larger part of her needed her. "Helena," She waited until the younger woman paused and looked back at her. "Stay?"

Tears welled in Helena's eyes as they locked with her mentor's, her best friend's, her sister's. "As long as you want me too."

Dinah smiled as she hugged Barbara. "We'll be up awhile if you need us."

Barbara nodded, returning the smile as best she could. Once the girls were gone she allowed herself the moments she needed to process everything. She sat there for nearly an hour before finally shifting herself from her chair to the bed. She lay beside her child, looking down into her sleeping face before she kissed her forehead softly. Barbara settled into the pillows and then wrapped her arm around Selina, pulling the girl close against her body. It was going to be awhile before she let go, she knew that. But she couldn't, she wouldn't, allow her child to be hurt, not again, never again.

"Barbara?"

The soft sleep laced whisper brought new tears to Barbara's eyes. "Yes baby?"

"Did you mean it?" The child asked.

Barbara held her a little more tightly and kissed her temple. "Every single word."

To her surprise the child actually snuggled closer before falling back to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

One Year Later

Selina Carolyn Gordon watched her mother from her perch on the railing above her. The elder redhead was sitting at her computers working, preparing for the evening sweeps. She was trying to get her mother's attention by sitting on the railing, so she began to kick her legs. The last year hadn't been easy. It took a lot for Selina to adjust to her new self, and to her new family, but she was finally starting to feel as if she were fitting in.

Barbara heard the thudding of something against metal and looked up. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Selina sitting on the upper railing. Taking her glasses off she pointed them at the child as she ordered, "Selina Gordon get down from there this minute!"

The girl grinned. Her eyes shifted. "Ok!" She replied just before pushing herself off the railing she let herself drop, landing in a crouch on the floor below. Her grin turned into a smirk when she heard the small gasp come from her mother. When she snapped her head up to look at Barbara her eyes shifted back to normal.

"I didn't mean like that!" Barbara scolded as she swallowed her heart out of her throat. She was going to smack Helena for teaching Selina how to do that.

Selina laughed and then went over to the Delphi system, her cheeriness turning quickly into a sigh, then a pout. "Barbara, I'm bored."

"You'll be a whole new kind of bored if you pull something like that again." Barbara scolded while swatting her daughter's jean clad bottom. "How many times have I told you the living room and monitor room aren't gyms?"

"In the last three months?" Selina pushed with a playful smirk. "Ninety-seven counting this time."

Over the last year, not only had they discovered Selina's powers were almost exactly like Helena's, but she also appeared to have her mother's perfect memory. "Don't be a smart alec." Barbara warned, though inside she was enjoying the back and forth. Selina was clearly in a good place and had been for well over a month. In fact, it had been nearly two since her last major melt down.

"Granddad says Gordons are all smart alecs." She defended.

Barbara rolled her eyes as she snatched a CD from the air that Selina was using as a mini Frisbee. "Well he would now since you clearly inherited it from him."

"He says I get it from you." The girl replied as she picked up the toy Batgirl her mother kept at her computer.

Green eyes danced with merriment even as they narrowed a little. "You're going to get a sore bottom from me if you don't stop playing with that." She took another disk from the girl, who was trying to get the hole over the points of the Batgirl doll's head. At the pout she'd gotten as reply, Barbara reaching out and tickled Selina before pulling her onto her lap and cuddling her. She was still trying to find that perfect balance, or at least the best workable balance, of time so she could be with Selina and still do her work. "Tell ya what, if you keep yourself busy and out of trouble until dinner we'll go to the park and grab ice cream before the girls go out on sweeps. Deal?"

It had taken months for Selina to let Barbara hold her like this, and even now it was strange to her. The hugs, the kisses, the cuddles, the rules, the boundaries, the consequences, the rewards and privileges, all the normalities of childhood still unsettled her sometimes. Settling into her mother's arms, Selina rested her head against the woman's chest and closed her eyes. Barbara was strong, warm, and she smelled really good. After a few seconds of memorizing the moment she finally nodded. "Deal."

"Good." Barbara kissed her daughter's temple and then set her on her feet.

She'd gotten her mother's attention and even got a cuddle out of it, but Selina was still bored. Heading back up to the small kitchen in the tower she decided to see what Alfred was up too. There was a perfectly good, up-dated, and large kitchen in the penthouse but most of the time Alfred made dinner in the tower cause her mother, Helena, and Dinah were more likely to eat if the food was closer. "What ya doin', Alfred?"

The elderly Englishman smiled as he looked up from laying out ingredients. "I'm starting dinner, Miss. Selina."

The girl came over to the table and looked at all the stuff before asking, "What are we having?"

"Meatloaf." Alfred replied.

Selina liked meatloaf well enough but her nose still scrunched. Meatloaf meant brussel sprouts. She hated brussel sprouts. She insisted that they smelled like feet. She spotted the evil feet vegetables and wondered if she could toss them out a window when Alfred wasn't looking.

"Is there something I can get for you Miss. Selina?" Alfred asked as he moved the round green vegetables out of harms way.

"I'm bored." She explained. "Barbara's in Oracle mode, Dinah's still at work, and Helena's not here yet." Looking up at the warm faced old man she asked, "Can I help make dinner?"

"Why of course young miss." Alfred beamed. "You can help me prepare the meatloaf."

Selina watched as the butler measured out everything and placed them in small bowls, and then put the ground meat into a larger bowl. He then let her dump all the spices and stuff he'd put into the small bowls into the large one with the meat, after she'd washed her hands. He told her what each of things were and how much of it was in each bowl as she dumped. She felt an odd sense of something as she did what he was telling her, but she couldn't explain it.

"Very good Miss. Selina." Alfred praised. "Now mix it all together."

The girl looked around before looking up at him. "I need a spoon."

Alfred smiled and shook his head. "Use your hands."

She looked at him, at the mess in the bowl, and then back at him before blinking. "Say what?"

"You use your hands to mix meatloaf together." Alfred explained.

Selina looked shocked. "But it's raw meat, Alfred!"

Alfred laughed. "Which is why you wash your hands afterwards." He nodded towards the bowl and added, "Now go ahead, stick your hands in and mix it all up."

The red haired child looked at him, blinking. "Are you for real?" When Alfred nodded Selina dashed over to the railing and yelled. "MOM! Alfred's trying to make me stick my hands in raw meat!"

The tower suddenly became quiet. No tapping of keys, no little girls making noise, even the clock gears seemed to go on ticking in stealth mode. Barbara looked up from her screen, green eyes meeting green eyes as she looked into her child's face. Selina had never called her mom before; she'd never called her anything but Barbara. She watched the emotion play out in the girl's eyes as she realized what she'd said. They'd all agreed to let Selina come to this moment on her own, and Barbara waited to see if it had just been a fluke.

Selina stared down at her mother, her head swimming. She hadn't meant to say it, she hadn't planned on it, but there it was and it felt good. After several seconds, which felt like years to both of them, Selina spoke up. "Moooom! Raw meat!"

Barbara let out the breath she'd been holding as she smiled, tears welling in her eyes. "You did ask to help, baby. Don't worry it won't bite, it's already dead."

Selina scrunched her nose.

"Go on and finish helping." Barbara told her.

The girl sighed and went back to where she'd left Alfred. She washed her hands again and then stared into the bowl. Finally she stuck her hands in and mushed. "Eww, eww, gross, gross."

Barbara couldn't help but laugh as she heard Selina's protests. She also couldn't help adding in a, "Moooo!" of her own.

Selina groaned. "NOT FUNNY MOM!"

Mom. Such a simple word and yet it was the most wonderful sound Barbara Gordon had ever heard, it was right up there with the sound of her little girl saying I love you. In that moment every hardship of the past year and everything that came next was and would be worth it.

The End


End file.
